Field Trip To Camp Hercule
by three kowtows
Summary: Videl hates Gohan, Gohan’s scared of Videl. So, naturally, they get stuck at camp together for a week, right? How are the two teens going to survive being in each other’s presence – particularly when one’s secretly Saiyaman? Read to find out!
1. Stuck At Camp

**Field Trip To Camp Hercule**

**Title:** Field Trip To Camp Hercule

**Author:** THREE kowtows.

**Summary:** Videl hates Gohan; Gohan's scared of Videl. So, naturally, they get stuck at camp together for a week, right? How are the two teens going to survive being in each other's presence – particularly when one's secretly... Saiyaman?

**Rating:** PG-13 (Language; suggestiveness.)

**Disclaimer:** DBZ isn't mine, as well as any other game or food-joint I might mention in here. The Camp thing's sorta my idea though, so... heh...

**Author's Note: **Seriously, this just... needed revising. / I was looking through it recently and was like 'wow, evidently they didn't teach grammar in junior high! how spiffy' and realized that this needed some looking over, along with a few 'wording' adjustments. What you're viewing now is the new and improved, shiny and holographic edition of Field Trip to Camp Hercule. Hopefully ya enjoy it – leave a review if you do! ...Or even if you don't like it. D: Bring it onnn. _Oh, by the way. At the top of each chapter, within the author's notes, it'll either say 'revised' or not. If it says revised, then obviously, it has been. If not, then it hasn't. I'm going to go through each chapter on and off, but it'll take some time for me to complete it in its entirety._

**Revised.**

-----

**Field Trip To Camp Hercule**

-----

_Stuck At Camp_

_-----_

Books? Check. Pencils? Check. Pens? ...Well, obviously. One pen propped behind his ear and bag to his back, Gohan darted out the door, rather stealthy like – and hoping he'd managed his escape before another girl could tackle him.

Ever since he'd gotten into Orange Star High School the girls had been following him _everywhere..._ and he was clueless on why they did. Well, all the girls, except for one - Satan Videl.

"Hey, Gohan!"

Erasa suddenly appeared next to Gohan, eyes widened brightly as she hopped from one foot to the other, jubilant grin evident. Sharpener came up to the left of her, placing his arm loosely about her waist as he greeted Gohan with a quick nod of his head, eyebrow quirked up.

"Isn't this great? I can't wait for the trip!"

"Trip?"

The Saiyan's forehead crinkled up in confusion.

_Trip? What's she talking about? Man, I knew I should've listened in class today..._

"The school field trip, silly! Weren't you listening?"

"It's when we all go to some camp thing and have to deal with each other for a week or so. It's a school tradition. We're supposed to learn things about each other and... uh... learn how to make friends." Sharpener had intervened on Erasa's behalf, shooting her a lazy grin before redirecting his gaze to Gohan, eyes rolling. The jock had no appreciation for the school's attempts to unify their class – Erasa, on the other hand...

Confusion slowly pulling from his expression, Gohan turned, scuffling through his backpack before yanking out a piece of paper. Uncrinkling it, he stared blankly at it for several seconds before shoving it back into the recesses of his bag; so, _that's _what the permission slip was for.

Erasa giggled and lightly jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. "A few classes go to different camps, and our class is going to Camp Hercule, for obvious reasons."

_Hercule? I-... um..._ Remaining confused (and a little apprehensive at the mention of the imposter's name), Gohan slowly shook his head, brow remaining crinkled in concentration.

"You don't know why? Well, it's 'cause Videl's in our class! It'll be great, since Hercule might show up sometime to give us a fighting show. You'll like that, right, Sharpie?"

_Oh, great. It's bad enough that Videl hates me – for no good reason, I might add – but..., but now, her dad? Things just can't get any worse-..._

"Hey, Del!"

Nearly toppling back at the sudden and loud exclamation of her name, Videl spun in place, scowl immediately appearing on her face once she had caught sight of Gohan. Sharpener, noticing the grimace across her features, laughed – and in turn, found himself being punched in the ribs by his irate girlfriend. Grunting, he fell silent as Erasa placed her hands on her hips and glared at Videl.

"Uh, hey, Videl," Gohan mumbled, keeping his head bowed slightly. It was obvious that she didn't like him! She might as well smack him in the face.

Still scowling, Videl returned the greeting, her tone flat; "Gohan."

Throwing her hands up in exasperation, Erasa suddenly stepped forward out of Sharpener's hold and grabbed Videl by the arm, dragging the surprised girl off a short distance to a corner where she immediately started whispering to her in heated tones. The blond teen ran a hand over his hair and smirked at Gohan's blank look.

"She's giving her a talking to for being rude, I'll bet ya," he supplied before heading to the soda machine.

"Videl! What is wrong with you?"

Erasa shook her friend's form - well, tried to, but she couldn't budge her. Deciding that it would be a bad idea to use physical force to emphasize her point Erasa instead put on the most frustrated glare she could manage. Hands again going to her hips, she began to tap her foot impatiently.

"Well? I'm waaaaiting!"

Videl sighed, rubbing at her temple with a hand. Things were getting so much more difficult around the place; wasn't she allowed to dislike somebody every now and then?

"He's a nerd, he's too polite, and he won't stop talking to me. Besides, he's probably some... what... secret player or something. I mean, a guy can't honestly be _that_ clueless if _that_ many girls are throwing themselves at him..."

The orange-haired girl's eyebrow arched as she grinned slyly, ferocity rapidly dispersing. Videl found herself growing nervous at this latest development and she eyed Erasa, suspiciously, until the girl had spoken once more.

"That's because he's a handsome, sweet, smart, caring and an unbelievably sexy man who's still single."

"...Pft!" Rapidly dismissing the explanation to Gohan's 'pimping skills', Videl stalked off, muttering curses beneath her breath while Erasa only waved at her friend's retreating back, giggling. A few more seconds and she had scampered off, casting another wave towards Gohan's form – who waved back – before heading to where she just _knew _Sharpener was waiting... by the soda and food machines.

Sigh catching under his breath, Gohan shuffled away, rubbing his hand at the back of his neck. The end of the day and he was still having a hard time; he had to go on a field trip and be locked up with his classmates for Kami knew how long, he had a confrontation with Videl, and he was going to have to deal with his mom throwing a fit of excitement over the chance to make new friends. The only way it could've gotten worse was if Videl was at her locker, considering hers was right next to his own-...

"...Aw, man!"

Stopping in place with another heaved sigh, Gohan tipped his head back, frustrated. Obviously, today was _not _his day – Videl was at her locker and it didn't look as if she'd be ready to leave anytime soon. Caving in to the inevitable, Gohan slouched up beside her, hoping she wouldn't notice him, as he went to 'stealthily' jerk his locker upon. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten there was a lock on it – and, just as unfortunately, he'd forgotten that he was a bit stronger than the typical...

...the locker door fell off its hinges with a crack of metal, and the lock was – remarkably enough – still on the locker door. _...Oh, crud._

Eyes wide and body tensed, Gohan began to press the door back into place, hoping it would somehow stick again, but soon realized that it wasn't quite as easy as he'd hoped. He then shoved the locker door on top of his locker and began to grab books, stuffing them into his bag hurriedly.

_Maybe if I can get my stuff and go before she's done, she won't... notice?_

Looking out of the corner of his eye, Gohan abruptly realized that Videl was regarding him strangely, a slight smirk visible on her lips. He was about to shake his head and run off to hopefully stop her from yelling at him when her voice stopped him dead cold, frozen in place.

"So, Gohan... Didn't know you could do that."

Jerking to a halt mid-sprint, his raised leg slowly moved back down to rest on the tile floor. Pivoting on the heel of his foot he faced her, careful to avoid eye contact, as his free hand began to hurriedly rub at the back of his head – a nervous habit he had yet to notice.

"Uh, the door, it was loose-... er, old! It was old, and... you know, I'm sure that's happened _hundreds_ of times."

Managing a helpless and still-nervous grin, Gohan continued to rub at the back of his hair, grin slowly wilting as Videl's smirk widened, eyes narrowing further.

"I'll bet. I mean, the lockers in this school are so old, that-... oh, wait. That's right. They're so old that they just got replaced a week ago, and the one that you happened to snap right off its hinges is brand new. ...Fascinating..."

Gohan paled. _Oh, crap! I didn't know that! It's just because I'm still new here..._

The issue of hiding his strength and abilities had always been an issue; however, as of late they'd becoming even more of an issue than the norm. Ever since his secret emergence as the Great Saiyaman and the Golden Warrior, the whole 'hide the abilities' deal had held a lot more importance behind it. After all, it was difficult to hold a secret identity if it wasn't secret anymore, right?

Laughing nervously, the demi-Saiyan began to jerk at his shirt collar, sweat already running down the side of his face. _She can't find out! I mean, she's only seen me once - ONCE! I just stopped those crazy guys, that's it! Not like it's an everyday thing... Is she already suspecting me as him! _And that's when he made an escape plan.

"Hey, look at the time! My mom's going to kill me unless I'm home soon, bye!"

Waving jerkily, Gohan spun and ran off, streaking down the hall before skidding to run up the stairs to the roof. As soon as he reached the top of the school he tapped the button on his watch and leapt from the roof, cape bursting over his form along with his masked identity. He was soon a yellow blur in the air, speeding back towards home grounds... and he couldn't shake the thought of his messy escape from his mind.

_Oh, Dende! Smooth one Gohan, real smooth!_

_-----_

Chi-Chi placed a fourth plate that was overflowing with food in front of Goten, grinning widely as she watched the young Saiyan attack the food with both hands.

"Tsk! Goten, don't forget to use your nap-... ack! Watch it!"

A stray piece of food whizzed past the woman's head to splatter on the wall with a _splut_. The small form looked up, eyes wide in surprise as he scratched his head.

"Oops! Sorry, mommy!"

Chi-Chi sighed, then patted her son affectionately on the head as she ruffled his spiked black hair.

"Forget about it. You're just as bad as your dad."

Suddenly Goten jumped up, his plate falling off the table to shatter on the ground. Screaming excitedly (and ignoring the shocked look on his mother's face) he ran outside, arms waving over his head.

"GOHAN'S BACK!" he yelled as he shoved the door open, one of the hinges popping open to let the door hang at an odd angle before the small boy burst outside.

Chi-Chi stared at the mess at the floor, then at the broken door. Muttering under her breath she stood, grabbing the phone and dialing up.

"Hey, Bulma? Do me a favor and take me shopping..."

Gohan landed outside of the dome of a house, clicking the button on his watch again to return to his normal clothes. Raising his head his eyes widened in shock as he was tackled, flipping over backwards to tumble partway down the hill before coming to a grass-stained stop.

"Gohan! You're back from school! We can train now, right? Right!"

Goten bounced eagerly on his brother's back, pounding on his shoulders with both fists.

"Well, not now, bud..."

Gohan grinned sheepishly as Goten's happy smile suddenly twisted into a frown.

"What? Why!"

"I have to study! As soon as I'm done with school stuff, I'll train with you, okay?"

"Promise?"

"Promise!"

"_Alright!_"

Jumping off his back, Goten ran back up the hill into the house once more, almost running into Chi-Chi as he sprinted through the busted door. Gohan, straightening from the ground before dusting off his pants, slowly shook his head as Chi-Chi's enraged yell echoed out from the house. Jogging up the grassy hill, it wasn't long until Gohan was striding into the domed place, pulling the broken door partially shut behind him.

"Hey, Mom!"

Chi-Chi turned and flipped a plate to the table which landed exactly next to Goten, who was already devouring another batch of food.

"There's your lunch, Gohan!"

Blinking, Gohan nodded and slipped into his seat, soon finishing off his meal within a matter of seconds. Patting his stomach, he slipped back out from his place, heading towards his room to study.

_Gee, Goten must have been a horror today if Mom didn't even ask me about my love life._

_-----_

Videl lightly shook the weighted mass with a gloved hand, testing the weight of the punching bag.

_Perfect._

As soon as she was sure that it was exactly as it should be, she began to pummel it recklessly, releasing a barrage of kicks and punches upon its surface. The bag whipped back and forth from its hanger, squeaking madly, as the flurry of strikes thumped across its surface.

The only time she could really think was when she was training by herself with something that wouldn't fight back. Well, didn't fight back most of the time - if she didn't pay enough attention the bag would sometimes slap her in the face with the whiplash, and that'd be more than enough to remind her to not let the bag 'fight back'.

This time, the thoughts were enough to place Videl in risk to the bag's whiplash pattern, as her latest dilemma had caused quite a mental stir... what was the issue?

The new kid, Son Gohan.

She set her mouth in a frown as she swung a hard punch at the bag, waiting for it to come back from its careening course so she could hit it again.

_What is it about him? He's such a nerd! But for some weird reason he reminds me about that... 'hero'. ...What was his name again? Oh, yeah... the Great Saiyaman. Pft._

The bag whirled bag, shaking on its hanger before Videl slammed another wall-shaking roundhouse into its side. It shot away once more.

_He can't be him, though. Gohan's way too weak... he's such a shrimp. That's another reason to not like him. He couldn't stand up for himself physically if his life depended on it, and he acts like he can. But... I can beat him. I know it._

A spinning knuckle-punch rammed against the side of the bag, a thump shuddering over its surface before it jerked away again, whiplash sending it reeling back.

_Why does everyone like him? And then... if you don't like him, he follows you around! At least, that's what he does to me. Then again, it could just be that Erasa's dragging him around behind her. Maybe that's it..._

Pulling back, Videl leapt into the air, body twisting into a 360 before a bandage-wrapped foot snapped out, catching the bag powerfully in a spinning aerial roundhouse kick.

_Wait, back it up, Videl. Remember that little incident earlier today? When Mister Weak-Skinny-Pathetic Gohan pulled off the door of his locker without even breaking a sweat? That could use some thought. The things were new, brand new, and he tried to make up an excuse. Heck, he even ran off when I cornered him! Something needs to be looked up there..._

Videl pulled back her fist, her eyes narrowed.

_I've got you in my sights, Son Gohan._

Her fist sped forward to connect with the punching bag with a resounding slam of flesh on sand-filled leather... and it suddenly split, sand pouring from its confines to pile on the floor in a growing heap. A small grin appeared on Videl's face as she turned away from the bag, grabbing a towel to wipe off the sweat that had gathered on her forehead. Stepping up to the intercom she lightly pressed the button that allowed her to talk to the man waiting at the desk...

"Hey, do you think you could get another punching bag set up in room 3B? ...Thanks."

-----

Gohan stared at the ceiling, arms folded neatly behind his head. After school work he had gone out for training with Goten. Apparently the kid had been practicing while he'd been at school - when he tried to go at the typical level of easy (often for Goten's benefit), he found himself face-down on the dirt, a laughing and victorious Goten standing on his back.

Fortunately for Gohan's dignity, his mom had returned from shopping at that time and had called them in to get washed up before dinner. His mouth started to water slightly as he remembered how he'd skipped lunch to get Trunks back to his house, since the son of Bulma and Vegeta had sneaked off to visit him at Orange Star High – without anyone's permission.

Gohan's door creaked open while he was studying, and soon Chi-Chi had poked her head inside. Head jerking up from his book, Gohan waved excitedly to his mom, already snapping his book shut as he went to stand.

"Is dinner ready yet!"

"Uh, no. Gohan..."

The teen's face fell as he dropped to the ground again, resting his chin on the palm of his hand as he forgot his mother was in the room. Chi-Chi grabbed a chair and pulled it up, sitting in it before folding her hands neatly and placing them perfectly in her lap. She regarded her son before her before speaking slowly, as if he was incapable of hearing normal-people-speech.

"Gohan, I have something very serious to discuss with you..."

Gohan continued to remain oblivious to his mother, wincing as a growl ran through his stomach. He needed food, and he needed it _now-..._

"When will we be seeing some grandchildren around here?"

Gasping, Gohan stumbling up from his place on the floor and stared at her. Grandchildren! His mom was asking him about... grandchildren! At his age? She couldn't be serious.

"Mom!"

"Well, from what I hear from Bulma who heard from Trunks, you and a certain girl seem to be very interested in each other..."

_What? A certain girl? Whoa, if she means Erasa, she's taken. Besides, she's just a friend! A bit too ditzy for me, Kami forgive me for saying so, but..._

"Mom, Erasa is Sharpener's girlfriend!" he sputtered in return, eyes remained frozen wide open.

"Erasa? You mean the orange-haired girl? No, Bulma was talking about this... this-... what's her name... oh, this Videl girl!"

That's when Gohan's jaw dropped. Obviously, Trunks had let his mouth run for far too long and in the wrong direction – Videl had nothing going for Gohan, and Gohan had nothing for her. Well, actually – Videl _did _have something, but it seemed to be only pure hate… Shaking his head quickly from side to side, hands pressed to his ears, it was several seconds before Gohan could speak once more, voice coming out slowly.

"Mom… Videl _hates_ me."

Chi-Chi raised an eyebrow.

"That's where you're wrong, Son Gohan. Nobody could hate my little boy; you're too sweet!"

Gohan smiled weakly as he suddenly remembered something he had to ask which, fortunately, would distract his mother from the latest topic of 'grandchildren'.

"Oh, yeah… Mom." Picking up his notebag, Gohan shuffled through the papers within once more before yanking out the paper from before, along with a pen. "There's this thing that I'm supposed to go to for school. It's when we go to camp and get to know each other or something… at least, that's what Sharpener and Erasa said."

Letting out a squeal of delight, Chi-Chi immediately filled out the required information in a flash before handing it back to Gohan, standing to hug him tightly.

"My son is going to have a chance to get to know more people!"

Sighing, Gohan gently hugged his mother back before allowing himself to be ushered out the door to the kitchen. Wonderful. He was almost hoping that his mom wouldn't allow him to go so he'd have a good enough excuse to not show, but she obviously approved of the idea. There was no way he was going to get out of going to Camp Hercule now.

-----

"Okay, class! Those of you that can go on the Camp Hercule field trip, pass your permission slips forward before you leave the room!"

With a rustle of paper the slips were passed from one student to another before they arrived at the front desks, where the teacher collected them before turning to place them in a drawer on her desk. Once the teacher was sure everyone had passed their papers forward she excused the class, holding the door open for the ambling hordes of teenagers.

Gohan left last as usual, considering his seat was near the back along with Erasa, Sharpener and Videl. Videl was, fortunately, several seats away from him, between Sharpener and Erasa.

"Hey, Gohan."

"Hey-… wait, what?"

That voice didn't sound like Erasa, and it was definitely not Sharpener that he was hearing. Twisting his head to the side, he stared at the person walking next to him…

_Videl._

"Videl?"

The girl shot a cocked half-grin in the demi-Saiyan's direction before suddenly stepping before him, forcing him to halt in place.

"What, you didn't expect me to talk to you once in awhile?"

_Geez, does she not like me or what?_

"No!" Gohan gulped as he suddenly saw Videl's expression change to one of annoyance. "I mean... why are you talking to me, anyways?"

"Do I need a reason?"

Sighing, Gohan shook his head and turned, walking towards the glass doors that led out to the Quad. He didn't want the end of the day to be ruined just because he got into a fight with Videl over something… stupid.

"Hey, don't walk away from me, Son Gohan!"

Videl ran to catch up with him and jumped in front of him once more, scowl again apparent on her features.

"Look, I just want to know how you could possibly screw up a locker like you did yesterday with your kind of physique."

Gohan's eyes narrowed slightly, his mouth twitching. It was one thing to stop him from leaving someplace, but it was an entirely different matter when someone insulted his looks – particularly when his looks evidently proved he wasn't 'strong enough' to do something.

"What are you saying?... You think I'm not that strong or something?"

Laughing under her breath, Videl shook her head slowly, arms slowly crossing before her chest before she spoke…

"Well… it's more like I can't think that you can fight at all – or be good at anything that has to do with it."

Eyes wide with shock, Gohan instinctively stepped back at the heavy-handed insult before pacing forward, eyes rapidly narrowing.

"You-…!"

_Calm down, Gohan! Don't lose it, don't lose it-…_

"Me what?" Videl taunted him, arms remaining crossed against her chest as she tilted forward at the waist, cocky grin still evident.

Gohan's expression darkened as he paced forward another step, slowly closing the distance between himself and the shorter girl before him.

"Don't underestimate me, Videl," he began calmly, taking another step. "You really don't know exactly who you're talking to, since you haven't taken the time to get to know me. Maybe I'm the designated 'smart kid', but it doesn't mean I don't know how to fight. Chances are, I'd last in almost any fight you'd challenge me in… or, I'd maybe even _beat you._"

The sudden rise of indignant fury that had roused within the demi-Saiyan suddenly dissipated. Gohan then realized – after coming to his senses – that he had trapped Videl against a wall, having backed her up until any other form of escape was inevitable.

He blinked once, staring blankly down at her form before noting the surprisingly bright color of her eyes. He slowly tilted his head to the side, a single eye narrowing in concentration, as he was – typically enough – caught up in the examination of the deep cerulean blue that they were-… up until Videl's fist connected with a resounding thump just at his stomach.

Jerking back a single step with surprise, though not enough to let Videl easily move, Gohan blinked once more as Videl began to examine him, stare critical as her eyes swept over his form.

_How could he still be standing? I punched him with almost everything I had!_

"Gohan… move. Now."

Obediently, the teen stepped aside, hand rising to scratch at the back of his head. Inwardly, he found himself mentally slapping himself for the exposure of his Saiyan side; _Vegeta had said something about it 'coming alive' around this age, but… does it have to be so aggressive and uncontrollable?_

Videl slipped past him and gave him one last look before walking down the hall's corridor, to the lockers.

Shaking his head, Gohan readjusted his bag before walking out the glass doors of the hall, ducking stealthily behind a wall before transforming into Saiyaman. Typically, he made his exit by bounding off the roof, but Videl happened to exit off the same area because of her helicopter, and, well... frankly, he didn't think Videl was interested in seeing him at the moment.

Launching into the air, the demi-Saiyan focused on something else besides the fiery-eyed Satan. Something more like the trip at Camp Hercule, which he had to be packed and ready for within three days.

-----

Sharpener raised an eyebrow slightly as he watched the black-haired boy walk in late, again. The teacher raised his head as well, regarding Gohan with a cold glare before waving him to his seat.

"Thank you for taking time out of your royal schedule to join us, Gohan," he murmured under his breath as several of the boys in the front row snickered, the girls giving the teen looks of sympathy.

Nudging his girlfriend lightly with an elbow to wake her from her nap, Sharpener pointed to Gohan as he started to ascend the stairs.

"Wh-what? Oh! Hi, Gohan... umm, er, you want me to move?"

Erasa smiled apologetically and started to switch back into her seat before Gohan shook his head, a half-smile forming on his face.

"No, it's okay. I don't mind."

"Umm… well, if you're sure..." Erasa started to laugh nervously, immediately slapping her hand over her mouth once she noticed the teacher staring at her disapprovingly.

Gohan slipped into the empty seat, pulling his books and binders out of his bag and placing them on the desk in front of him, then flipping a pencil out from another pocket in the bag. He then settled back in his seat, relaxing momentarily as he waited for the teacher to begin their lecture.

"Alright, class. Today, we will be discussing the art of politic-…"

With a sudden crash, the door to the classroom slammed open as the students within the first few rows jumped within their seats. Bolting into the room before skidding to a stop, Videl partially keeled over, panting as she spoke hurriedly.

"Ah, I'm sorry! See, there was this robbery, and I-…"

"Don't worry about it, Videl. We all appreciate your services, and as long as you make a point to at least show up for school I think we can let a few tardies slip."

"Oh, thanks..." Breathing out a sigh of relief, the girl straightened before trudging up the steps to her seat. She was about to sit down, after muttering a quiet hello to Erasa-… wait, what?

Straightening, she looked from Erasa's seat to hers'. _Okay, this seat is mine, and… _And Erasa was supposed to be sitting next to her, but no, Erasa was next to _Sharpener_...

That left Gohan, and Gohan was in Erasa's seat, which, once again, was next to her seat.

…_Kami. This is not a good way to start the day._

Videl slowly stepped behind the desk after pulling off her book-bag, dropping it next to her chair. Carefully, Videl slid her chair inwards as she also slightly scooted away from Gohan's figure, a small grimace already forming on her features. She stopped once she noticed that he was doing the same, also attempting to keep her from noticing.

_What am I doing? I was trying to get away from him for a second there! Not like he scares me. I mean, that big talk about him being so tough and everything was interesting, but not intimidating. Why should I care what he thinks? He can just deal with the problem himself._

Forcing her usual cocky expression back onto her face, Videl scooted her chair back to its original placing, watching from the corner of her eyes with amusement as Gohan scrambled to scoot away in response. Shaking her head as a quiet laugh slipped from between her lips, she tilted forward, whipping out paper and pen from her bag as she began to take notes on the lecture. That would be something that could get that nerd off her mind, at the very least…

-----

_Thirty minutes later._

_-----_

Gohan yawned, grumbling under his breath as his eyelids fluttered open and shut. That lecture, even though it hadn't been that long, had been incredibly boring. By the looks of it, everyone else thought the same - almost everyone had given in to the boredom and had fallen asleep, or they were slapping themselves to stay awake. Even Videl, who was known for her excellent grades, was slouching in her chair, head hung back over the headrest.

Suddenly, the teacher's tone changed.

"Well, that was a rather interesting lecture, wasn't it? Now, about the camp! I'm sure all of you were eager to choose who you'd dorm with, correct? Because of the new types of cabins they have now, you can have two boys and two girls to a dorm!"

The class suddenly jerked awake, most of the boys already wearing matching grins at least a mile in diameter.

"No, no! You won't be sharing rooms _directly_, but in a different way. The dorm rooms will be separated by a wall, but the rooms will connect where there is the small kitchenette, bathroom and sitting area, where you can read or just talk."

Some of the boys groaned in response, while others gave a sigh of relief. All of the girls though, save Videl, were still giggling excitedly.

"To pick who you want to be in your cabin, write down three other names. I'll match them up then post the rooms and their occupants at the camp in the main hall. Alright? Get to it. You have until end of class to submit the papers. Once you've turned them in to me, you can work on other homework. Oh, yes... Don't forget; name, date, and period in the upper right corner."

Each of the students yanked out a piece of spare paper from their binders and scribbled the names on quickly.

Gohan sighed and slowly wrote his name on the paper, knowing that the date and period were unnecessary, just one of the teacher's habits when talking. Raising his head, he peered out of the corner of his eye at Erasa's paper.

_Sharpener_

_Gohan_

She was in the process of writing the third name, so he couldn't see it. Well, that was good! Chances were high that'd Sharpener have the same names on his. Smiling to himself he wrote down Erasa's and Sharpener's name on his paper, leaving the third entry blank. The teacher would probably just put him with whoever else Erasa and Sharpener had decided on.

Folding his paper, he handed it to the boy in front of him who continued to pass it forward. That done, the teen started on his math, glad it was the only homework he had for that night. He'd have to pack - only two more days until departure.

-----

_After school._

_-----_

"Man, hold up."

Sharpener jogged up to Gohan as the black-haired teen slowed to a slow walk from his brisk run. As usual, Erasa appeared soon after, always tagging along behind her boyfriend.

"Where's the fire?"

Gohan grinned sheepishly, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"Well, Videl and I both leave the same way and I was trying leave before her. I really don't think she likes me all that much..."

Both Sharpener and Erasa looked at each other, confused, before looking at Gohan again.

"You guys don't like each other?" Erasa asked incredulously. "I thought you guys talked things out after school yesterday!"

The demi-Saiyan rolled his eyes. "Oh, sure, we talked things out," he stated sarcastically. "More like we argued back and forth about physique and fighting skill."

"Oh," Erasa squeaked, before giggling. "Obviously she's never seen you in PE. I mean, ouch! Turn down the heat!"

Sharpener's eyebrow twitched slightly as Gohan blushed a dark red, Erasa grinning mischievously.

"I mean, you can't compete with Sharpener here, but you've still got it good!" she grinned before hugging Sharpener tightly from the side, kissing him on the cheek. Gohan laughedonce he saw the blond-haired teen blush a light tint of red.

"Yeah, well... Anyways, I got to go, before Videl catches me up there. She'll probably strangle me if we're left alone-…"

"What exactly would she be strangling?" Sharpener added slyly, unfaltering as Erasa slapped him hard on the shoulder.

"Stop being a pervert!" she yelled, dragging the man off to the parking lot. Still smiling just as mischievously as before, Sharpener waved good-bye as he turned, running to keep himself from tripping as the girl beside him yanked hard on his arm.

Gohan stayed rooted to the spot, very much embarrassed, until he regained his senses, turning to again run for the roof.

_Don't let Videl be there, don't let Videl be there, don't let Videl be therrrre... Oh, geez!_

Naturally, Videl was there. Gohan immediately darted behind a wall and peeked out of the corner at the girl, making sure to keep his books from banging together.

The girl was sitting on the edge of the railing, her feet hanging over the edge. From what he could tell she was looking up at the sky, or something.

_Damn... If she's sitting there for too long, I won't be getting home anytime soon._

The boy settled himself on the ground, still looking past the corner at Videl. Five minutes passed... then ten... then fifteen...

Gohan groaned quietly under his breath, shifting his position slightly. His legs were starting to cramp up. _Come on, she has to go sometime._ A sudden thought flashed through his mind - his mom! If he didn't get home soon, she'd flip.

Videl was still perched on the railing, leaning back slightly on her arms. Creeping out from behind the corner, Gohan slowly tip-toed over to another building that would be far enough away that he could get away and fly off. Just a few more steps-…

_Thwack._ Shoe accidentally connecting with a rock, he kicked the small projectile against the rooftop's surface, the small rock tumbling with several loud bumps over the surface.. Gohan's head snapped to the side as Videl let out a surprised squeak, careening forward at the railing. Gohan jumped up and sprinted to the edge of the building where Videl had rocked forward in her fit of surprise, grabbing her and pulling her back a little too forcibly… she toppled over backwards and they landed on the ground in a heap.

Rubbing her hair as she vainly tried to get the dust out of it, Videl shook her head furiously as her pigtails whipped about, slapping Gohan in the eye. He yelped and grabbed his face with both hands, trying to stand but falling over onto Videl again since he couldn't see where he was walking.

"Ouch! Gohan, you're heavy!" Videl barked into Gohan's ear as she tried – vainly – to shove him off of her form.

"Uh-… sorry!"

Eyes remaining squint shut, the black-haired girl waited several seconds before slowly letting one eye slip open, then followed by the other. Blinking once, she soon registered that Gohan hadn't moved from his spot and still hovered over her, expression obviously confused – and, with a growling curse, Videl was soon finding herself shoving him roughly back at the chest with both hands. Unfortunately for Videl, Gohan didn't budge. Blinking again, Videl continued to attempt to shove Gohan away until Gohan – finally understanding – pulled away himself. Getting to his feet, he offered his hand to Videl, who blatantly ignored it as she stumbled to her feet as well.

Dusting off her black shorts, Videl then placed her hands on her hips and examined the teen before her. Even when she glared at him he didn't seem too intimidated - well, not at the moment at least. Then again, he probably didn't even notice she was glaring at him - he was staring at the ground and was digging into the pavement with the toe of his shoe.

"Son Gohan, what is it with you and running into me?"

"What? I-…"

"Are you stalking me or something? Because if you are, I'm going to have to kick your ass!" she yelled in frustration, stomping up to him to stare at him, crossly, directly in the eyes from her short height.

"Augh! N-no! Videl, I-…"

"Gohan, you better keep your distance, alright? I've seriously had enough of you this past week! Everywhere I go, you're there; everywhere my friends go, you're there too! And, to make things just perfectly peachy, you have the exact same schedule as me! Isn't life wonderful! Stay away from me, Son Gohan!"

Giving him one last resounding punch on the shoulder, Videl immediately turned and stalked off a short distance before pulling her capsule out of her bag and tossing it to the ground where a helicopter appeared in a puff of smoke. Grabbing onto its side she hopped in, ignition soon sounding before it took to the air, blades flashing as it spun in place.

Gohan sputtered as dust and who-knows-what flew into his mouth from the wind of the helicopter's blades and slowly turned, making his way a short distance off to stand behind the doorway to the roof's entrance. Once he was sure Videl was out of sight, he clicked the button on his watch and leapt into the air, doing a small half-hearted flip before turning towards home.

-----

_Day 3: Time to Leave_

_-----_

Easily slipping his bags off his shoulder, Gohan let out a long sigh as he stretched backwards, yawning. He immediately stopped once he realized that several of the girls were staring at him, jaws dropped, overly-pleased expressions obvious.

Red tint forming on his face, he jogged off to where Sharpener and Erasa were standing, talking together as the first of the two leaned casually against the wall. Turning his head to the teen, Sharpener waved a greeting as Erasa continued babbling.

"Yeah, so, I said that she'd better watch out! And she was like, just who do you think you are, chica? Then I was like, oh, that's just it-… oh, hey, Gohan! What's cookin'?" She giggled at her own humor as Sharpener and Gohan looked to each other with sympathy in their eyes.

"Nothing much, Erasa. Just waiting for the bus to get over here..." he mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. Gohan continued to remain quiet for several seconds until he caught a sudden bit of movement out of the corner of his eye. Cheeks paling, his soon jerked his hands out from their crossed-over-chest positions, gasp jerking from his lips.

"Oh, man! Guys, I'll see you later! Bye!"

With a messy wave, he was soon sprinting off, much to Sharpener and Erasa's confusion – at least, up until a sleepy voice sounded behind them.

"Hey, Erasa… hey, Sharpener."

Videl yawned as the pair turned towards her, rubbing an eye with a knuckle while holding her duffel in place with the other hand. The couple exchanged knowing glances before greeting her cheerfully, waving innocently to the still sleep-subdued Satan before them. Videl, in turn, raised an eyebrow, eyeing the couple suspiciously before deciding against questioning them. _It's too early for that…_ Shaking her head, she shrugged her shoulders lightly before turning to look to the bus.

After several minutes of chattering the teacher grabbed his whistle, blowing on it shrilly, must to the student's chagrin. His bellowing voice soon followed after.

"Okay, people! Let's go; into the buses! Hurry it up. I don't care where you sit as long as it's somewhere!"

With delighted shrieks the kids ran forward and piled into the two buses, shoving past each other as they fought for the best seats. Once settled after about ten minutes of confusion and chaos, the buses started out, heading for the highway.

-----

The ride was uneventful. The only thing that'd been relatively amusing was when one of the jocks had attempted to hit on Erasa, and Sharpener had responded by kicking the boy hard in the stomach. Naturally, that resulted in an all-out fist-fight. After the two steaming jocks had been separated, the teachers had suspended each boy to sit in opposite corners of the bus and peace was returned, along with boredom.

For Gohan, the ride remained uneventful as ever, as he'd remained oblivious to the fight; and, after going through five bags of M&M's, two tootsie-pops, a pack of soda and three bags of popcorn, the two hour trip finally came to an end.

As soon as the bus doors opened, the students scrambled out, running for the room listings. Gohan fell out behind the others, clutching his stomach while groaning. He hadn't really eaten in a bus before and had realized the hard way that he never wanted to again.

After the crowds had cleared, Gohan moved up to the lists to stand next to Sharpener who was already scanning over the names. Videl and Erasa were talking a short distance away, each having assigned Sharpener with the duty of figuring out the rooms they were all in. His finger scrolled across the papers then finally came to a stop, midway down the list. With a satisfied nod, the teen turned away to rejoin his girlfriend in front of Videl.

Gohan stepped into place behind him and scanned over the lists as well, not completely sure as to whether he'd been placed with Sharpener and the others. After going through the first six he paused at Cabin #7's listings, then went over them slowly as he muttered the names out loud to himself.

"Sharpener... Erasa... Gohan..." He stopped, smiling widely.

_This is great! Maybe things will turn out alright for a change._

He let his finger drop another notch and read out the final name on the list.

"Videl."

That's when he froze.

_No way!... Okay, I gotta read that again…_ He started from the top and went to the bottom, and the name was definitely not going anywhere else. His imagination hadn't been playing tricks on him, after all.

Now paranoid, he turned his head slowly to the side to stare at Erasa, Sharpener and Videl. Already, the black-haired girl was glaring back at him with a similar intensity to the one she'd shown before on the roof. Gulping down a yelp, he turned and shuffled off, mumbling something about getting his bags. A week stuck in the same cabin with a girl who wanted to kick his ass?

_Lookin' good, Gohan. Honestly, that's just… ugh. Kami, help me._

-----

**To be continued...**

-----


	2. Welcome To Cabin #7

**Field Trip To Camp Hercule**

**Author's Note: **Back in business! Still working on revising. I decided to quit my job for the summer and just focus on writing, the person I'm dating and catching up with my fam-a-lam, so I figure I'll have a lot more time to fling out until next semester. Get excited!

**Revised.**

--

**Previous chapter...**

_--_

Gohan stepped into place behind him and scanned over the lists as well, not completely sure as to whether he'd been placed with Sharpener and the others. After going through the first six he paused at Cabin #7's listings, then went over them slowly as he muttered the names out loud to himself.

"Sharpener... Erasa... Gohan..." He stopped, smiling widely.

_This is great! Maybe things will turn out alright for a change._

He let his finger drop another notch and read out the final name on the list.

"Videl."

That's when he froze.

_No way!... Okay, I gotta read that again…_ He started from the top and went to the bottom, and the name was definitely not going anywhere else. His imagination hadn't been playing tricks on him, after all.

Now paranoid, he turned his head slowly to the side to stare at Erasa, Sharpener and Videl. Already, the black-haired girl was glaring back at him with a similar intensity to the one she'd shown before on the roof. Gulping down a yelp, he turned and shuffled off, mumbling something about getting his bags. A week stuck in the same cabin with a girl who wanted to kick his ass?

_Lookin' good, Gohan. Honestly, that's just… ugh. Kami, help me._

--

_Welcome To Cabin #7_

--

"Kids, this is the head camp counselor at Camp Hercule! His name's Rob and I'm sure he'd be happy to give you all a tour."

The students groaned in unison, Sharpener shaking his head while Erasa slapped a hand to her forehead. Obviously, they were all going to get a tour, whether they wanted it or not – everything had been planned in advance.

"Hey, students of all ages!" A man stepped onto the podium before the masses of Orange Star High, light-brown hair slicked back beneath a baseball cap.

"I can see that you're all thrilled to be here, and that's great! Being enthusiastic is an awesome way to start the week! Well, since you all want to have the best time possible, you should get to know the camp-site a little better. Come on, everybody!"

With an over-exaggerated hand gesture for the group to follow him, Rob stepped off the podium and headed for the dirt walkways, the pack of students trudging along behind the counselor.

Gohan stayed at his place further to the back, not wanting to get too close to the front in fear that Videl would spot him and chew his head off. Because of this he wasn't able to talk to Sharpener and Erasa, and found himself surrounded by squealing girls instead.

"Gohan! How long did it take for your muscles to get that big, anyways? I've seen you in P.E.!"

"I heard you're into martial arts! Do you offer… _personal training sessions?_"

"He's mine!"

"Back off, he's neither of yours'… he's _mine!_"

Gohan groaned under his breath, stopping with an abrupt halt as the three unknown girls began to fight over him, slapping at each others faces while yanking viciously on random bits of their opponent's hair. Fortunately for Gohan, he was soon grabbed and yanked back and away from the three, all of which – even more fortunately – remained oblivious to the fact that the object of their affections had been taken away.

Sharpener released his hold from Gohan's shirt and patted him on the back with sympathy as Erasa tried to keep herself from laughing. Videl, however, arched an eyebrow at him as her eyes narrowed ever-so slightly. Only Gohan noticed.

"You really need to get yourself a girlfriend, Gohan," Erasa commented, waving a hand lazily at the teen beside her. "That's the only way you'll get them to back off. I mean, you should've seen what they did to Sharpener before we made it official."

Shrugging his shoulders, Gohan shook his head. "Sorry, but I don't think I really want one. Besides, what girl would seriously go out with me?"

He was about to continue before Sharpener interrupted him.

"Shut up with the bull, kid. Either you're making an attempt to be modest or you're completely oblivious to the hordes that come after you."

Gohan's head shot up. "You know why they all chase after me?!"

The two teens stared at each other, one with large sweat drops coursing down his forehead as Videl crossed both of her arms over her chest, eyelids drooping as she sighed irritably.

"…-And these are the cabins! Well, I've leave you guys here so you can get settled! See you all in the main hall later today, kids."

The head counselor turned and marched off, grinning widely at the applause (fortunately, he was ignorant to the fact that the applause was over his exit other than a 'job well done'). As he passed by the small group of four, he paused, eyes locking suddenly on Videl. His eyebrows shot up before he winked, clicking his tongue before continuing past her. Gohan merely stared while Erasa and Sharpener laughed outright, Videl's eyes becoming as wide as saucers.

"W-what did he just do?" she stammered, placed into a state of disgusted shock.

"The dork-counselor's hittin' on the Herc babe..." Sharpener sang, immediately falling silent as the raven-haired girl turned her heated glare onto him.

"He is one of the new ones that your dad hired this year, isn't he? He probably doesn't know who he's messing with," Erasa commented, placing her finger at the tip of her mouth as she frowned in concentration.

Videl mumbled under her breath as she swung her bag over her shoulder, stomping to Cabin #7 angrily, but not without adding her two cents;

"Let's hope so, otherwise he'll have plenty of explaining to do."

--

The girls took the left side of the cabin while the guys took the right. The separate rooms were fairly simple: they contained two dressers and two single beds with two windows to one side, the opposite room being a duplicate. The main room in the cabin had a couch, two chairs and a TV while the kitchens had only a stove and sink, along with a mini-fridge. The bathrooms were something that Gohan found himself worrying about - they were only stalls without any drapes.

Scratching the back of his head, he muttered under his breath worriedly, jumping backwards with surprise as Sharpener tapped him on the shoulder.

"What's up, flinchy? Something wrong with the bathroom?"

"Uh, well..." Gohan ducked his head, shuffling a bit. "The showers don't have curtains..."

Sharpener blinked once before letting out a loud, rolling laugh.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot that you don't go into the showers for gym class. Squeamish, hm?"

Gohan blushed furiously as he sped out of the bathroom, almost crashing into Erasa on his way out. To drown his worries he went to the kitchen, grabbing a soda from the counter. He didn't hear the sound of footsteps behind him until a form bumped into his body, making him spin around. Unfortunately, he had spun right in the middle of opening the soda can, which had been – just as unfortunately – shaken up during the ride on the bus.

An eruption of carbonated liquid blasted from the soda, covering the body in front of Gohan with a dark, sticky substance. Videl shrieked and gasped, her hair drooping as her arms hung limply to her sides. The boy pulled back with a startled yelp, before he found himself frozen in place, eyes widened to the size of saucers. Videl's shirt was white, giving him a view of more than he thought he was supposed to see... and much more than he'd ever been shown before.

"W-why, you... you!" she screamed, launching herself at him.

With a swift panicked squeak, Gohan turned and ran into the boy's side of the house, trying to slam the door behind him and lock it before finding his efforts were unsuccessful as it was burst open by an infuriated Videl. The demi-Saiyan then tried to back up but found soon found himself tackled to the ground, a still furious Videl straddling his form before pummeling the teen with a flurry of punches.

"Stay...out...of...my...way!" she yelled, pausing with each word to strike again seconds later with more force.

Wincing with each hit as one eye squint shut, Gohan accepted the expected abuse, inwardly shaking his head. _Geez, I really blew it this time! She's stronger than I expected..._

Videl pounded her fist one more time into his form, this time hitting him directly on the face by accident, as Gohan had squirmed down into the fist's path in his weak attempts to escape. She then faltered before stopping, openly staring as Gohan had only winced slightly in response, his face showing no mark of the attack. She eventually shook her head, giving up on the attack before climbing off of Gohan's form, tilting over to grab a towel from the edge of the bed before her.

"Gohan, how many times do I have to tell you to watch what you're doing," she muttered distractedly, before turning around and heading back to hers' and Erasa's room, dripping soda all the way.

Gohan let out a wheeze then struggled to his feet, staring down at his shirt. Right where she had been sitting was now a gigantic soda stain. Sighing, he yanked the wet shirt off his head and fished another out from his duffel, pulling it back over as he thought to himself, _If she messes up my shirts once a day like this, I'll be out of them before even half the week is over!_

Wandering back out into the kitchen (after making sure that there was no Videl in sight), Gohan grabbed another can of soda along with a few sandwiches and took them back to the room. Since they'd arrived pretty late and the tour had taken awhile, they were going to have to eat in the cabins and not start any activities until the next day. Fortunately, the group had brought tons of food with them, Gohan bringing the most in a capsule that Bulma had given him the day that they were to leave.

Letting out a small and happy sigh, Gohan sank backwards onto his bed as he finished off the first sandwich in two bites before starting on the second one. With everyone either showering or changing into non-wet clothes, the cabin was a perfect picture of peace and quiet.

--

Gohan rose earlier in the morning on the next day than he'd planned thanks to the drifting smells of breakfast cooking. Smiling with a dazed look on his face, he got out of bed and wandered into the small kitchenette, still in his sleeping boxers. Sharpener was already up and had done the same as him, not caring enough to change from his sleeping clothes.

Erasa waved at him happily in greeting and tossed him a plate which he caught easily. Already drooling, the demi-Saiyan hopped up to the stove and grabbed all ten pancakes that had been placed on it, unaware of Videl's surprised cough.

Settling back at the table he attacked the food, oblivious to the other three's stares of wonder.

"Geez, Gohan. Do they ever feed you at home or what?"

Sharpener finished his third pancake and leaned back in his chair, satisfied as Erasa ended on her second serving. Videl, after making two more for herself, sat at the table next to Gohan, since Erasa and Sharpener had taken the other seats. Not even making an attempt to hide her annoyance as she ate slowly, she couldn't help but partially stare at Gohan as he cheerfully shoved his fifth pancake down his throat.

"Aaanywaaays..." Erasa stated, falling silent as Gohan grabbed the remaining five pancakes and stuffed them in his mouth, finishing the pile within a single bite.

The demi-Saiyan grinned widely as he picked up his plate and was about to go for a demi-Saiyan's "second serving" when he noticed his roommate's stares. Scratching his head sheepishly, he sat back down, shooting them a silly grin as he placed his emptied plate back before him.

"Now that our bottomless-pit is done eating," Sharpener commented sarcastically, smirking as Gohan blushed, "we have to head out to the main hall. Remember, gotta be out there by eight every morning."

"Just great. I won't have time for a shower!"

Gohan cast a side-long glance at Erasa as she huffed irritably, standing and stomping away from the table and out the door, leaving everyone else confused. Sharpener blinked and hopped out of his seat, running after his girlfriend, leaving Videl and Gohan alone.

Videl sighed quietly under her breath as she stood, grabbing her plate and Erasa's as she placed them in the sink, turning on the faucet to rinse them off. Grabbing the remaining plates, Gohan was soon standing behind her, trying to peek over her shoulders as she finished washing off the plates.

"Um... you want me to get those?"

Wiping off the two plates with a towel, Videl placed them back in the cabinet before turning to Gohan.

"No, but you can get those," she stated, pointing to the plates he held before walking out the door. Gohan only stared at her in return before getting to work…

_At least she didn't yell at me this time._

--

Mobs of high-schoolers filled the main hall; the counselors, chaperones and teachers were having difficulty maintaining control. Finally, after fifteen minutes of confused havoc, the room quieted as the head counselor stepped up to the podium.

"Today we will be practicing the art of crafting! Now, of course you all should remember this from the other camp for the younger students at Orange Star High School. We will be brushing back over the basics and then, we will improve our skills! This will take place in an hour and a half from now, and it will end at two o'clock in the afternoon…"

Groaning, Sharpener slapped himself on the face while Erasa blew a lock of hair away from her eyes, frowning. Videl was half-asleep as she leaned backwards in her chair, staring at the ceiling.

Suddenly, her cell rang from the inside of her belt and she jolted awake, mildly confused until she realized what the sound was coming from. Yanking it out of the cell-pouch she flipped it open, already speaking into it.

"Videl here."

_"Satan Videl? Finally, we have someone with fighting experience in the area… the police chief in Satan City told me you were going to be here. This is the local police force, Captain Goma speaking. We need your assistance at the city's bank, immediately! Several armed men have taken over the building and are holding innocents hostage. Will you be able to help us?"_

"Of course! I'll be right there."

Snapping the phone shut with a flick of her fingers, she jumped to her feet, already sprinting for the door.

"Robbery at the city's main bank!" she yelled as she shot out the door, sneakers skidding over tile. Their teacher nodded as she ran past him while the counselors looked at each other blankly for several seconds before realizing that the streak that had just bolted past had been the daughter of the great Hercule himself. Only one was left with a blank look on his expression after Videl's exit, staring emptily into space…

_Oh, this is just great! How am I supposed to get out of here and do my Saiyaman thing? Stupid Counselor! Stop talking!_

"Okay you guys, let's get to work! All of the male students in the class, come with me right out this door!"

_There is a Kami! This is perfect._

As all of the male students piled out of the room, Gohan stayed near the back of the crowd. Once they began to round a corner and he was out of sight from the girls that remained in the hall, he bounded to the side and ducked behind a tree until the shuffling noises of feet scuffling through dirt quieted. Peeking out from behind the trunk, he flashed a small smile as he tapped the button on his wrist-watch lightly, his green cape rolling out behind him. Turning away, he sprinted forward before leaping into the air, gaze darting about as he tried to catch sight of Videl's form…

_Wait, there!_

Eyes latching onto the bright yellow of Videl's helicopter, he burst after the rapidly vanishing machine, making sure to keep his distance.

Speeding after her, his cape flapping wildly behind him, Gohan sighed quietly to himself.

_Of course, it's the usual. Bank robbery; hostages too, I bet. You'd think those thugs would get a new, original idea. These guys aren't gonna know what hit them!_

"There it is! At least it's gotta be, since there are cop cars all over along with newscasters..." Videl mused to herself as she landed the chopper and stepped out, pausing to stand in front of it with arms crossed as a uniformed man ran to her, halting several feet before Hercule's daughter.

"Miss Satan! Thank you for coming, Captain Goma at your service." Saluting, the Captain gave a smile of relief. "The hostages, there are about ten of them. We believe there to be about three or four thugs in the bank, all armed. We can back you up--"

"Thanks, but I can handle it on my own!"

Before the Captain could get in another word the girl darted past him and into the building, ignoring the confused yells of the other cops who didn't know who she was.

_So some criminal boys are holding people up as usual,_ she smirked to herself as she sprinted through the glass doors before sliding to an abrupt stop. Looking to each hall before her, she decided on the one in the center - after all, that's where all the muffled yells were coming from.

Meanwhile, Gohan had landed silently on the roof of the bank, leaning over the edge to examine the scene before him. _There! Videl!_ Watching carefully he saw her run at a full sprint into the bank as the other officers yelled warnings for her to stay back, some even starting forward before being yanked back by their superiors. Obviously, many of the men hadn't realized that Satan Videl was at their service.

He stood and turned back to the sky-light that laid before him. Last time he'd gone on a rescue mission without Videl's knowledge of his interference, he'd entered through the window that had been the main source of light during the day for Satan City's local bank.

"Knowing all those disbelieving people out there," he grunted as he swung the window open, the latch snapping easily, "they won't expect anyone to come through here." He dropped through the opening and hovered by the ceiling for a moment, waiting for anything to possibly lead him to where Videl - and the thugs - were.

After hovering silently for several seconds the Saiyan's keen hearing picked up the sound of footsteps on marble, along with the thumps and muffled shrieks of what he guessed to be the tied hostages.

Turning, he headed down the center corridor, concentrating on the sound that led him, not wanting to lose her.

Soon he came to a large room filled with filing cabinets and desks. However, the main attraction was the safe in the very back of the room, the door hanging open as several men grabbed bags of what was obviously coins and paper money from within it. Gohan froze in midair and ducked behind a wall, searching for any sign of Videl.

_Where the heck did that girl go?_

Suddenly an angry yell sounded from the other side of the room as a man flew backwards into Gohan's line of sight, slamming with a painful _blam_ into the corner of a desk. Gohan's mouth twitched slightly as he watched Videl stomp out into the open, clearly infuriated. It looked like there were more thugs than she'd thought and they had jumped her, but she still managed to beat them down.

"You guys don't even know who I am, and you're underestimating me already!" she screamed, enraged as the men before her snickered.

"It's a stroke of luck that you beat those two men, little girl," a thug spoke up as he turned, flashing a toothy smile as he held up a bag of cash with his left hand and tossed it to another who stashed it into one of several suitcases.

"Stroke of luck? _Stroke of luck?!_ I have been training for years on end, and I'll have you know that it's no fluke that my father is the strongest man in the world!" she retorted, face red with anger.

Gohan winced at the Satan's choice of words - it actually _had_ been a fluke, and a very lucky one at that. But he had no intention of telling Videl such, especially since she already despised him already.

The remaining five thugs looked to each other blankly, then back at the girl.

"Strongest man? Who's that?"

Gohan almost burst out laughing as Videl's face twisted into one of confusion and irritation. Yes, it was true; Videl normally didn't have to tell people who she was, much less explain who her father, the "strongest man in the world", was! It seemed that the thugs had either been isolated for a time or didn't watch TV to check in with the gossip.

Videl's eyes flared and she leapt at the man who was talking. "Stupid!" she yelled, slamming her fist hard into his stomach before he could spin to aim his gun at her.

Doubling over, the thug groaned, dropping his weapon as the others looked on in shock before immediately jumping to their feet as they fumbled for their guns.

"Don't worry, Boss, we got your back!" one grunted as he managed to load his gun and shoot a wild volley of bullets towards Videl.

The shot was still way off its mark, however. Videl merely smirked as she continued pummeling the head of the gang, smoothly skipping to the other side so that the man provided her with a human shield.

Deciding that the gunfire had been his cue, Gohan leapt into the fight, grabbing two confused thugs by the arms and twisting them backwards behind their backs, stopping only when they squealed with surprised pain. Stepping forward he planted a forceful kick in one of the two remaining thugs' back, sending him flying forward into a wall with a resounding _crack_ before he spun and bicycle-kicked the other into a rolling chair, watching with slight amusement as the man rolled at full speed past Videl and the leader before crashing – with a clatter of paper and metal – into a file cabinet.

Videl knuckle-punched the thug's leader across the cheek, sending him spinning off into unconsciousness (and head-first over a receptionist's desk) before turning to regard the super-hero before her with a mixture of surprise and anger.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered hotly as she pulled several coiled ropes out of her belt's pocket, using them to tie up the unconscious thugs.

"Nice to see you, Miss Videl," Gohan replied weakly in his baritone super-hero voice, noting and fearing the girl's infuriated look at his unannounced interruption of her _job._

Finishing the last knot on the final knocked-out criminal, she stood, dusting her hands off as she closed her eyes, the sides of her mouth twitching slightly.

"Well? Aren't you going to answer the question?"

Gohan looked at her blankly. "What question?"

Rolling her eyes, Videl shook her head with a huff before repeating herself: "Why are you here?"

"Oh! Um..." Gohan stalled, his finger rising to press against the side of his mouth as he thought hurriedly in a daze. "I was ... patrolling this area because ... my friend, the Golden Warrior, was sick and he couldn't!" Letting out a shaky, fake laugh, Gohan thanked Kami for his helmet since he could tell by the heat on his face that he was blushing furiously.

Videl let both eyes drop open and locked her gaze with his, eyebrow arched.

"He's ... sick," she repeated, voice dropping to a tone of blatant disbelief.

"Yeah, sick! He was glowing green!" Gohan, also known as the Great Saiyaman, yelled a bit too loudly, immediately slapping his hand over his mouth after his outburst.

"Really, you can come up with a better excuse than that."

Gohan grabbed at the collar of his spandex suit, tugging on it nervously as he gulped.

"I-it's not an excuse!"

"Really now," Videl commented, a glint in her eye.

_Oh man, oh man! She's not falling for it, Gohan! Way to go, you and your lies, might as well tell her that you're really Son Gohan and that you just wanted to protect her!_

"Sorry, Miss, but I believe that I have to check on my friend now! He should be back out and running within a few days, green-free!"

Running out the door at a full sprint, Gohan didn't calm himself until he got to the main lobby of the bank. He slowed to a jog before he then stopped entirely, groaning as he held his burning face in both hands.

"I can't lie worth crud! This is just not right! There has to be a way to make that somewhat believable, Goha-..."

"Saiyaman!"

Freezing in place, the Great Saiyaman tilted his head slightly to peer over his shoulder. Videl stood at the entrance to the center hall, casually leaning against the wall with both arms crossed.

_She didn't hear that, did she?!_

"I'm going to be watching you," she finished, looking directly at where his eyes would be if not covered with a visor.

Nervously wiping the sweat off the back of his neck, Gohan nodded rapidly then leapt into the air, darting out through the sky-light to speed back towards the Camp. That had come way too close to ending in disaster! Way, _way_ too close for him to be comfortable with it.

The Saiyan eventually found himself taking a detour to get to Camp Hercule - unfortunately Videl left soon after him and almost saw him before he darted out of sight, reappearing in a grove of trees. As he snuck out of the forest and took flight again he glanced at his watch.

"Aw, man! It's 2:00 already, I hope the counselors didn't notice I was gone... at least I missed crafting."

Flipping forward in midair he sped up, knowing that Videl had probably already landed.

"Where were you?"

Gohan awkwardly slid into his seat next to Erasa and Sharpener who were both casting bewildered glances at him, Erasa regarding him with astonishment while Sharpener kept to a look of almost wicked glee. The growing smile on Sharpener's face nearly worried the demi-Saiyan, until...

"Gohan ditched! Woo, there may be hope for you yet!" Sharpener whooped quietly, a wide smirk covering his face. Inwardly, Gohan heaved a sigh before jumping into defensive maneuvers.

"No, you guys! It's not like that--"

"What is it like, then?"

"What is what like?"

Gohan paled as Videl appeared next to Erasa, eyebrows raised ever-so slightly. Erasa tilted her head upwards to glance at Videl, looking to her with barely-contained suspicion before she burst into wild laughter, clutching at her sides.

"So I noticed that you came in a few minutes before Gohan," she gasped in between giggles. "Is there some secret hot-and-heavy romancin' going on somewhere that I was not told about, hmm?" she commented, grinning widely as both Gohan and Videl blushed furiously.

"What?! No! Not with... with him!" Videl hurriedly shouted, pointing at Gohan as the Saiyan reeled backwards in response.

"I'm not like that, Erasa..." Gohan mumbled quietly, tiredly rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Oh yeah? Well there are some things we have yet to learn about you, Gohan. If you're willing to ditch class, who knows what else you're doing?"

_Crud! Sharpener! Keep your big mouth shut! _Gohan's mind screamed as he raised his head to look fearfully at Videl.

The girl was staring back at him, both eyes wide. To Gohan's surprise, she didn't look annoyed... thoughtful, instead. After several seconds of silence her mouth slowly curved into a dark smile as she cast another knowing glance at him before turning back to Sharpener and Erasa who had decided that talking about the current releases in the movies were much more interesting than "Gohan and Videl's pretend love life."

"As soon as we're out of this damn camp I can't wait to see some nice, gory, bloody macho-army-men movies."

Sharpener let out a blissful sigh, head dropping to rest on his palm, as Erasa began gagging in feigned disgust before she pitched out her opinion of manly flicks.

"The only movie worth my time is some cute teen romance with some hottie like Josh Hartnett or something! I mean, he's such a babe... Not as hot as you!" she added hurriedly at the end as Sharpener's eyes started to narrow with poorly disguised contempt.

The teen soon relaxed and hugged his girlfriend to him, kissing her on the cheek with a Tim Allen-esque grunt. Giggling, Erasa did the same to him, him then returning the favor, until they finally resorted to making out on the bench, oblivious to the displeased and critical stares of the adults... and horrified looks of Gohan and Videl.

Deciding that it was getting a bit too ... icky ... Gohan stood and wandered off to the lunch table, grabbing a tray as he noticed Videl do the same. He couldn't help but grin to himself; she was probably sickened by the over-all cuteness of the scene. As Gohan turned back to the buffet in front of him, he let out a breath and closed his eyes in ecstasy. Thank Kami that lunch was after crafting.

The lunch at the camp was pretty loose, rules-wise - all you had to do was eat, and you had about an hour to do so. If you finished early you were allowed to head back to the cabins to do whatever, as long as you got back to the Main Hall by the scheduled time.

Gohan finished what had been, until recently, a plate covered with a mountain of food in five minutes, to his classmate's amazement. Dumping them off by the washing counter, he glanced back at the Hall before running out the door to jog at a steady pace to his cabin. He wanted some peace and quiet to do some homework that his mom had given him to do over the break. As always, she was concerned that if he didn't study at all during the week he'd forget all of the education content he learned at school and return home an idiot.

Studying wasn't a problem for him... in fact, he didn't mind it at all. However, Sharpener, Erasa and Videl seemed to. When Sharpener was around he'd make fun of him constantly until Gohan would end up arguing back, forgetting entirely about his studies. When Erasa was around, she'd talk incessantly until he wouldn't be able to concentrate on what was placed in front of him. And when Videl was at the cabin at the same time ... well, being around her at all made Gohan incredibly nervous, which didn't help with the curious looks she would cast at him and his books every few minutes.

After charging into his room Gohan hopped onto his bed, grabbing a book with one hand and a pencil and paper with another. Flipping the book open to the book-marked page, he immediately started reading, taking a few notes in the margins along the way.

After twenty minutes of studying, the Saiyan's eyes slowly began to droop. Another five minutes and his pencil dropped from his hand as his body flopped onto its side. Ten minutes later, he was knocked out completely, snoring loudly as he fell further into a deep sleep.

_Okay... something's missing._

Videl quickly scanned the Main Hall's occupants. There was Sharpener, there was Erasa, there was that idiotic head counselor... Wait.

_Son Gohan!_

Stifling a laugh Videl examined the room one last time to prove to herself that Gohan was definitely nowhere in the vicinity. Lately that kid had been doing a lot of stuff she'd never expect him to.

_What's next, Mr. Gohan? First, you skip crafting then don't show after lunch._

Videl sighed and fell backwards slightly in her seat. The fact that Gohan had left as she had and had returned only minutes after her own return was really getting to her. What was also annoying her already tired mind was that he'd seemed very spooked when Sharpener and Erasa began talking about it in front of her, particularly when she'd stared at him as if to read his thoughts. He looked like a deer in headlights or, in this case, a Gohan in front of a very suspicious Videl.

_What were you doing, anyways?_ she questioned an invisible Gohan.

She sighed again, turning her head to face the podium. Time to listen to another speech by the famed idiot himself, Counselor Rob.

Gohan awoke with a yelp as he rolled off the bed and hit the floor, a nearby cabinet shuddering with the impact as it rained several large text-books down on his head. Grunting as each thudded on his forehead, chest and splayed legs, Gohan grimaced until the books stopped falling. Shaking his head slightly as he absentmindedly rubbed at his growing bruises, he tried to remember what happened before he'd fallen off the bed and gotten whacked soundly on the head.

"Okay..." he spoke quietly to himself. "First, I helped Videl as Saiyaman, had lunch..." he ticked off each activity on the tip of his finger. "Then, I came back here and studied and fell, aaasleeeep.. Oh, holy heck!"

Shoving the books out of his way the Saiyan ran to the door, leaping into the air as soon as he got outside. Okay, so the Main Hall wasn't that far away and everyone was in it... his conclusion? They wouldn't see him coming over by air.

He was right. Landing in front of the large building only minutes later, Gohan ducked down and crawled through the door, trying to avoid anyone noticing him. Fortunately all of the adults were focused intently on the speaker while the students that _did _notice didn't care about his late entrance.

Slipping into an empty seat that was, coincidentally, next to Sharpener, Gohan let out a long breath in relief. Thank Kami. Thank Dende. Thank any other God there was up there. He wouldn't know what to do if his record got smudged even the tiniest bit, and if his mom found out.

The blonde-haired teen suddenly nudged him with an elbow.

"Wanted to ditch again, hmm Gohan?" Before the shocked Saiyan could reply, Sharpener continued on. "I know it's addictive, man, but you should save it for the most boring classes at school! I mean, at least when we're here, we don't have to even look like we're paying attention."

Laughing nervously, Gohan didn't even attempt to respond as he turned back to watch Rob at the podium. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Erasa doing a thumbs-up at him while mouthing the words 'So you're finally loosening up! Cool!'

Gohan frowned only slightly, not enough so that the others would notice it.

_They have me all wrong. Not like I ditch by choice! The only reason I do is because I'm doing even better things that are more important than listening to some guy talk or doing craft-work! Everything I do is getting twisted into the wrong stuff._

Soon the head camp counselor finished his speech and directed the classes outside.

"Separate into groups of four!" he yelled over the crowd's chattering.

Erasa pumped her fist in the air as she grabbed Gohan, Sharpener and Videl in a tight hold, claiming them as her group via group hug.

"Now, we'll make the plans for the baking contest!"

Gohan froze in place as Erasa pranced around them, occasionally grabbing Sharpener for a hug while lightly punching Videl on the shoulder, making him reminisce of Goten on his most hyper days.

_Cooking?! Baking?! What! No! They can't be serious..._

"Here are your menus for what you will be cooking, along with the recipes. You may add or subtract anything from them accordingly as long as they relatively represent what is listed on the card pages. Alright? Now, you guys head back to your cabins. I'll see you all in exactly..." Falling silent, Rob raised his watch-hand up in front of his face with an extravagant gesture, before nodding with an all too-cheery grin and turning back to his audience with a flourish. "...In exactly one hour! Now, go off and plan, kiddies!"

The group of teens trooped back to their cabin and immediately headed for the sitting room, Sharpener and Erasa claiming the couch while Videl and Gohan each took the single chairs on opposite sides of the room.

Sharpener grabbed the TV control and was about to flip it on when Erasa suddenly yanked the remote out of his hand and flung it to the other side of the room, batteries flying. Startled, Sharpener faced his girlfriend, expression blank.

"What was _that_ for?" he complained, taken aback and displeased with his lack of television power.

"We're supposed to be looking over these recipes, Sharpener, and I'm pretty sure that we need to establish some team-work here if we seriously want to win anything!"

"But cooking is girl-stuff..."

"Sharpener!"

Erasa cast a looming glare at Sharpener who immediately cowered at the edge of the couch with a soft whimper, nodding his head submissively. Relaxing, the blonde-haired girl drew the papers out of her back pocket and unfolded them at the center of the coffee table.

Gohan leaned forward to examine them, and almost fainted from shock. The counselors expected them to make whole, full-course meals! They were to make peach cobbler for the final dish and for the main one, they were to make a stir-fry with assorted veggies and such, depending on their creativity.

Of course, along with the meal there were to be beverages; for the drinks they had to come up with a delicate tea for the first meal, to help accent the tastes, then bring out a shake for dessert, different flavors (and decorative freedom) recommended. The meal should be enough for the four of them.

Drawing back, Gohan rubbed his temples sadly. That meant that they'd have to eat whatever they came up with, so there was no way they could just lose on purpose by making horrid food without any effort and only a small amount. With the way he ate, they'd have to make enough to feed a human army, equaling out to one hungry Saiyan.

"This can't be that bad!" Erasa commented as cheerfully as possible while the others looked on, doubtful looks crossing over their faces.

"N-not that bad?" Videl stammered, pointing a shaking finger at the large slip of paper peeled out before them. "We have to make a complete meal! And we have to eat it! And it has to be enough to feed all of us..." she faded off as she turned his head slightly to stare at Gohan, who suddenly seemed very interested in the carpet and its lack of design.

"Oh, yeah, that's right..." Erasa tapped a finger on the side of her head worriedly and then brightened. "Gohan, do you think you can chill on the chow for the contest? I promise I'll cook you some more stuff when we get back to the cabin!"

Gohan grinned, relieved, as he nodded. Okay, so now he wasn't going to be a handicap to the team. Another plus was that Erasa was one very, very good cook, even though she acted like a ditz most of the time and had a tendency to drop more eggs than she'd fry.

"Alright, let's get some plans going! We have until the end of this week to do all of this crap and we gotta get everything ourselves. Who's gonna do the shopping? ... Well?" Erasa lifted her head from the menu and looked around the room, bewildered at the sudden lack of comrades. "Hey, where did everyone go? ... GUYS!"

Rob looked over the papers in his cabin, leaning back against the chair with his arm swung over the side. _Satan Videl, my new target_. He grinned wolfishly, flashing rows of bleached white teeth. Once he showed her his real personality, she wouldn't be able to resist him. He wouldn't let anything stop him during his climb to power.

It all made sense to him. Get the girl, get the father's money... get the fame. He'd make himself seem like the perfect guy to Hercule by meeting him, working at his manipulation until even Videl's _father_ insisted that they date! Through the Satan riches, he'd get the fame and fortune that he truly deserved.

Stopping to run a hand over slicked-back hair that had remained hidden under a baseball cap while in the presence of the campers, Rob allowed a dark smirk to slip again, shuffling through the papers until he came to a manila folder labeled "Satan Videl". Pulling her picture out from the folder he gently caressed it with a cooing sigh, before clutching it tightly in the palm of his hand, crumpling it with unrestrained force.

_Through Videl, I will get what I should have always had... and I'm not going to let anyone stop me._

Gohan stumbled out of the cabin, followed closely by Sharpener. Stopping just past the threshold the boy leaned against the side of the wooden building, panting, as he wiped several beads of sweat off his forehead, noticing Sharpener do the same.

Erasa had gone off on another one of her rants when she had realized that they'd all run off to avoid shopping for food. Of course she only picked on the boys, not criticizing Videl since she knew that the girl despised any type of shopping while it seemed that her boyfriend had a certain love for clothing stores for men, along with any hardware shop. Naturally, she assumed Gohan felt the same way. In reality the boy's fascination with stores was limited to those that contained material for martial arts and free, already-prepared food.

Normally he wouldn't even get that worked up during a fight, but Erasa's lecture had been something that he couldn't fight back physically. Instead, the two boys had to sit it out.

_Never, __**ever,**__ am I going to sit through another lecture of Erasas' again, _Gohan's mind muttered to itself, the Saiyan agreeing with his inner thoughts mentally.

Standing and stretching his spine backwards with a frustrated groan, Gohan straightened before he turned to steady Sharpener as the man stumbled backwards a bit, clapping him gently on the back as the teen continued to wheeze uncontrollably.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, it's just been awhile since I've had to go through one of those," he managed to choke out before going into another fit of hacking. Evidently, Erasa's lectures took a physical toll on her boy.

After remaining keeled over for several minutes Sharpener finally stood, composure regained. He nodded stiffly to Gohan and headed towards the Main Hall.

Gohan ran after him until he was walking next to him and tapped him on the shoulder. The man stopped and turned his head slightly.

"What?"

"Where are you going to? I mean, not like we're going anywhere--"

"Don't you remember? We were supposed to meet back in the Main Hall in an hour when the Counselor told us, and that'll be in about five minutes."

"Shouldn't we tell the girls?"

A lop-sided grin appeared on Sharpener's face.

"Yeah, we should. Go ahead, Gohan!"

With that, Sharpener broke into a full-sprint, heading directly for the Hall. Gohan watched after his friend's retreating form, his mouth hanging open slightly. Damn that guy! He was making him go back into that cabin with Erasa and Videl... and an angry Erasa at that. Very, very angry.

The Saiyan walked back to their cabin, Cabin #7, and timidly peeked through the door. Seeing no danger he walked in, closing the door behind him.

The other students could hear the sounds of pots banging and horrified screams from several cabins away.

Sharpener snickered as Gohan slipped into the seat next to him, a large bruise already formed on his forehead to accompany his developing black eye. From the looks of it, Videl had pitched in with the beating.

"How was it?" he whispered out of the corner of his mouth.

"Horrible," Gohan replied, wincing as a small cut on the side of his mouth was stretched with the movement of his jaw.

Both Erasa and Videl took seats on the opposite side of Sharpener, Erasa leaning against her boyfriend, all anger spent. She hugged his arm lightly, leaning over to whisper an apology in his ear as he returned the favor.

Videl rolled her eyes with an incoherent mutter as the couple resumed their kissing-fest, thanking god that the counselors weren't watching them at the moment. They weren't, were they?

She suddenly felt a stare upon her form. Raising her head slightly she looked for the source of the look, finally turning her head to the podium. One of the teachers was speaking, Rob standing behind him - and he was staring directly at her.

Her eyes widened with confusion as the head counselor flashed a small, devilish grin. Tossing a quick glance to Erasa and Sharpener, he turned his look back to her and mouthed, 'When are we going to get to that part?'

Videl jerked back in her seat and shot a furious glare at the man as he winked slowly before he turned his attention back to the teacher in front of him. She only settled back in her seat when Rob went up to the podium and began talking; he wouldn't be able to single her out _then_.

Gohan, having seen the exchange, looked from Videl to Rob with raised eyebrows. What was going on between the two? Feeling very confused and a little agitated, Gohan shook his head, quickly deciding to not dwell on it. After all, girls were a mystery to him, and chances were the camp counselor wasn't all that easy to figure out either.

**To be continued...**


	3. Operation Gohan and Videl, Plan A

Field Trip To Camp Hercule

**Field Trip To Camp Hercule**

**--**

**Previous chapter...**

--

Videl jerked back in her seat and shot a furious glare at the man as he winked slowly before he turned his attention back to the teacher in front of him. She only settled back in her seat when he went up to the podium and began talking - he wouldn't be able to look at her _then_.

Gohan looked from Videl to Rob, his eyebrow raised. What was going on between the two? Shaking his head, very much confused, the Saiyan decided on not even trying to guess. After all, girls were a mystery to him, and chances are the Camp Counselor wasn't all that easy to figure out either.

--

_Operation Gohan and Videl, Plan A_

--

Sharpener groaned and rested his head in his hands as Gohan teetered from his seat on the log, eyelids drooping as he struggled to stay awake. After lectures, more activities and dinner, all of the students had been herded outside for a fun-filled camp fire. Along with the thrilling fire came songs and marshmellows, the latter being the favored of the two.

Gohan had decided to stop on his fifth marshmellow after getting strange looks from counselors, even though his stomach was still grumbling in discontent. Videl and Erasa had decided to amuse themselves by throwing things in the fire, occassionally mistaking someones wad of money for a leaf and not realizing it was something else before it was too late. After only 20 minutes of idle talking, Videl had dished out 150 in replacement of burnt cash while Erasa had been able to afford only about 5 cents, all she had left after a huge shopping spree the day before the field trip.

Counselor Rob finally dropped his stick and slowly brought himself to his feet, no one taking notice until he began to speak.

"Well, kids, this group needs some livening up! Anyone know some good camp fire songs?"

A groan sounded from around the fire.

"No, huh? How about Old McDonald's?"

Sharpener raised his head from his hands, eyes wide. "He can't be serious," he stated, falling silent as the man burst into wild song.

"He was serious," finished Erasa, forcing a grim smile as she covered both ears with her hands, Rob's voice being comparable to a dying donkey's screech.

In the circle that surrounded the fire, the other student's reacted to the singing in a way similar to Erasa's - either they covered their ears or began to slap themselves, one even going to lengths to knock himself unconscious.

After five minutes of ear-piercing choruses, there was a brief silence before some of the more enthusiastic of the counselors applauded, the teacher following suit. The teacher cast quick glares around the camp fire, and some of the more timid students clapped while the others pretended to not notice the look.

"That was a great song," commented one counselor optimistically, another nodding from his perch on a log.

"Yeah, great," muttered Sharpener in a sarcastic voice, rolling his eyes as he let his head roll back.

Erasa frowned, scuffing the dirt with the shoe of her toe.

"When in the heck is this torture going to be over, anyways?"

Suddenly someone's watch alarm went off and Rob jumped to his feet, waving his arms.

"Oh, we over-stayed our time! Everyone, to the cabins, it's bed time! I'll see you all bright and early tomorrow morning!"

Gohan raised his head and looked to the sky, mouthing the words 'Thank you' as students filed past him. Soon he leapt to his feet and did the same, running full-speed for Cabin #7, leaving Erasa, Sharpener and Videl in his dust.

Erasa had planned earlier that they were going to all play a game when they got back to the cabin. Gohan was still clueless on what kind of game she meant; he was guessing it would be something like Monopoly or checkers. If he was really, really lucky, it'd be some fighting game that he could dominate. All he knew was that she was going to invite a few more students over so there'd be more people to play with, and that the sitting room would be filled.

Gohan ran into the house then headed for his room, changing out of his dusty outfit into another in a record time of ten seconds. He walked out to the sitting room and sat down right as everyone else jogged in, panting slightly. He raised his head and shot a small grin towards the group - he hadn't even gotten a bit of sweat on his brow.

"Gohan! Slow down next time, won'tcha? These shoes were _not_ meant for running!" Erasa whined, holding up a platform while rubbing a sore foot.

"Oh, heh... Sorry."

"Yeah, Gohan, geez. You were gone like... _that_," Sharpener snapped his finger - "and just disappeared on us."

Gohan smiled weakly, mumbling another apology as he turned back to the TV. He'd forgotten about his strength, again. Hopefully no one thought it was too weird, otherwise he was going to have some trouble.

Videl appeared behind Erasa and Sharpener, a small crowd of kids forming at the door.

"Hey, guys, what in the hell is the hold up? Get in the damn room so we can all fit in the house!" she yelled, shoving the pair forward.

The surge of students moved in until the door was able to close behind them. The TV blared and the furniture was pushed to each side of the walls, so that the maximum amount of room would be available in the house.

Gohan blinked, slowly standing from the couch as he stared at the students who filled the room, eyes wide in surprise.

"Erasa, aren't we gonna play some game or something? It's gonna be hard with all these people here!"

Sharpener turned his head, immediately speaking up for his girlfriend.

"Gohan, I don't think you understand what she meant by game yet..."

A huge grin on her face, Erasa jumped up on a table as other kids set up a stereo with speakers on each side of her and screamed, "LET'S PARTY!!"

The music was suddenly blasting through the cabin as everyone whooped and started dancing while a few others brought out the drinks. Sharpener, Erasa and Videl each split into different directions, leaving a confused Saiyan standing in the room while students crowded in around him, each whooping and dancing to their own beat.

Casting a quick glance around the room, Gohan suddenly took on a knowing look.

"Oh."

After the party had picked up a bit, Gohan stood in the middle of the room in a daze. What in the heck had just happened? Everything was happy, peaceful, then all of a sudden, people burst in from everywhere and music was playing, then it was a party. From the looks of it, it was a party that included alcohol.

_Oh, man. Mom is not going to like this... not one bit._

Standing, Gohan crept along the side of the wall and somehow managed to stumble into his bedroom. He had been looking for some alone time but there was a small crowd of kids in his room; lucky for him, Erasa, Sharpener and Videl were in there. Unluckily for him, the couple wanted him to play whatever game they were playing.

"Hey, Gohan. You finally decided to ditch the main room, huh? It was getting a little crowded," Erasa giggled.

"Yeah, yeah, right..." Gohan trailed off, looking for a way of escape.

Sharpener grabbed Gohan by an arm, dragging him down so that he was sitting.

"Come on, just play the game! Okay, around the circle, that's Tyler, that's Jen, and that's Josh..." he named off the remaining students who sat in the circle, each waving as he spoke their name. "I think the minutes are up!"

Erasa stood and opened up the closet, laughing as a gasping boy and girl emerged.

"Looks like some people didn't have enough time to breathe in there!" she snickered before sitting back down.

Sharpener grinned back briefly, then looked around the room once. "Okay, everyone's gone once except for..." A wide, sly smile spread across his face. Standing, he grabbed Videl with one hand and Gohan with another, yanking them to their feet.

"What the _heck_ are you doing?!" Videl growled as Sharpener shoved both her and Gohan into the closet.

He grinned again, "This!" - then slammed the door shut, locking it from the outside.

Gohan yelped, falling backwards over boxes of shoes. There was another gasp in front of him and a form collapsed on top of his own. Eyes widening, the Saiyan attempted to squirm out from whatever was on top of him but found it impossible - the closet wasn't big enough to allow him much movement.

"Uh, Videl? You're on top of me..."

"I know that, genius!" the girl snapped before trying to stand again, only tripping to land back on top of Gohan.

Raising an eyebrow slightly, Gohan shifted uncomfortably until a resounding slap was landed on a place that Videl guessed to be his face, which in reality was his shoulder.

"No grinding!"

Tilting his head to the side, which looked pretty strange from his position on the floor, Gohan blinked. He had no idea what she meant by that, and he was sure that he didn't want to know either. Letting out a confused sigh he let his head drop back to rest against a shoebox, using it as a temporary pillow.

After a few seconds of silence, Gohan raised his head again.

"Videl, what kind of game is this anyways?"

There was no response, but Gohan could sense that Videl was surprised and uneasy. She once again tried to stand but toppled over onto him, so that her face was directly in front of his.

He thanked Kami for the dark as he blushed a dark red, only slightly satisfied when his Saiyan sight showed that she was doing the same.

Videl let out a frustrated sigh as she tried to turn away, which didn't work too well. Gohan pulled his head back again, this time bonking it against the shoes in the box. His head jerked back up suddenly, his forehead hitting Videl's and they both yanked their heads back in response.

"Ouch!" she muttered, reaching up a hand to rub her forehead as Gohan groaned in growing irritation.

The closet wasn't getting any bigger and he still had no idea why in the heck they were in there in the first place.

"Um... Videl?"

"What do you want, Gohan."

Gohan let out a quiet breath of air. Fortunately for him, her voice had a patient tone to it.

"What game is this supposed to be?"

The body on top of him stiffened slightly. Gohan arched an eyebrow as he struggled to sit up, relieved when he managed to raise his upper body enough so that him and Videl weren't placed as they were before. The position still wasn't what he would have chosen ideally, but was better than the first one.

"Well...?" he prompted her, leaning his spine against the back of the closet.

"Uh..."

Gohan settled himself, knowing she'd end up telling him anyways since there was nothing else to do.

"It's... a game, and you have to go in a closet with someone and do, stuff."

"What kinda stuff?"

Videl almost slapped herself; instead, she groaned loudly.

_Man, is this kid naive or what? How can he not pick it up what I mean?_

"You know, like... what Sharpener and Erasa do all the time."

"Oh."

Gohan's face suddenly flared red as the realization of what the girl'd said hit him. Videl pulled back, looking at Gohan and almost burst out laughing at the twisted look on his face. It was obvious that he was incredibly embarassed and shocked by the idea of playing the game at all.

"Oh..." he said again, trailing off as Videl rolled her eyes, a small smirk making itself visible on her lips.

Gohan twisted in his awkward position to look down at Videl. She actually wasn't all that scary from how she was acting then. In fact.. she actually seemed... _nice._

She raised her head and looked him straight in the eye, startled when he returned the gaze evenly. Last time she'd done that, he'd backed off. His attitude was definately changing it, and she had to admit she kind of preferred it to the one he'd sported before, the one that let her walk all over him.

Fully intent on keeping up the stare, she didn't realize that she had lost her balance until she started to completely fall to one side, letting out a small squeak of surprise as she slowly began to topple over.

Gohan's eyes widened slightly and he placed one hand on her hip and the other around the side of her ribcage, catching her then balancing her. She squirmed in his hold then finally completely rightened, letting out a small sigh of relief. The breath caught in her throat when she noticed Gohan's tight grip around her hips and she blushed faintly, muttering something about getting out of the closet.

Looking down at his wrist-watch, Gohan sighed as he remained oblivious to Videl's red face. Already, 30 minutes had passed. Apparently the others had completely forgotten about them, or something...

Videl recovered from her embarassment and leaned over his shoulder, looking at his watch and cursing vividly while leaning back again to press her ear against the door. She turned back to Gohan, her usual scowl back on her face.

"From the sounds of it the counselors crashed the party. Everythings totally silent. Sharpener and Erasa probably cleared everyone out then stole the girl's room, if you get my drift..."

The side of Videl's mouth twitched as she let out a huff of air, trying to stand as Gohan looked on in confusion. He shifted back, then stopped, considering for a moment.

_I could blast us out of here, easy. That'd get us a nice, comfy night in a bed... Don't think like that, Gohan! Two separate beds, damn it... But then it's not really that bad in here, not at all. Plus, I can't let her know about the strength issue, can I?_

It was decided. Gohan grabbed a few of the spare coats and Videl, who had managed to get to her feet, rattled the door knob frantically. Turning, he placed them on the ground, knowing it'd be their bed for the night and laid back down, shoving some of the boxes out of the way. He raised and eyebrow and smirked as Videl turned, somehow, to pull back and examine what room that remained.

Videl looked from Gohan to the five inches that were left, then back at the boy. He returned the gaze and shrugged.

"There isn't any other room, I can't move back anymore..."

She sighed then laid down fully, partly on top of him. Gohan sneaked a small grin behind his hand as he shifted to give her a little more room, before he rested his head on the make-shift pillow. Videl's eyes followed his actions for awhile until they began to droop, their progress rapidly increasing as Gohan reached over and pulled a coat over their bodies.

The Saiyan propped his head up on an elbow and watched her in silence for several minutes, until her breathing became quiet and even. Smiling softly to himself he let his arm drop, and he scooted a bit closer to Videl as she shivered in her sleep.

Slowly, careful that he wouldn't wake Videl up, Gohan coiled an arm around her and pulled her tightly against his form, raising an eyebrow as she sighed and snuggled deeper into the warmth of his chest. Gohan sucked in a tentative breath of air, bending down to see if she was awake. Guess not, false alarm. Letting out a wary sigh he rested her head on the pillow above hers, allowing himself to drift off to sleep with Videl resting against him. If Kami was with him, she wouldn't slap him _too_ hard when she woke up.

Counselor Rob stormed into his cabin, slamming the door shut behind him. Livid with rage, he kicked a chair across the room, snarling as he heard one of the wooden legs break.

The kids in Cabin #7 had a blow-out party, and he had to go break it up. Things hadn't gone exactly as he'd planned, however. For one, Videl was supposed to be there. Two, she was supposed to be all over him.

Whatever kind of smut that had gone off with the girl was going to get his ass kicked. He'd see to it personally. There were plenty of ways to figure out who Videl's current love interest was, sure. Normally he'd be happy to find out himself, but he had a camp to watch, being the Head Counselor and all. Regrettably, he'd probably have to hire someone else to do the dirty work. He might even have to go to the lengths to have that person get rid of the competition for him.

Rob whipped his sunglasses off and threw them into a corner, his baseball cap soon following. Until he was really sure he'd need something done, he'd watch Videl by himself. The girl would always be in his sights until he got her to be his own. Then, his mission would be accomplished, and he'd be the most wanted man in Satan City, along with most famed next to Satan Hercule himself. Boyfriend of Satan Videl. Maybe even... husband, of Satan Videl. Hadaway Videl did have a certain ring to it, didn't it?

Twisting a cap off a soda bottle, Rob flopped back down on a couch, foot resting on his knee as he downed the beverage. Yup, no doubt about it, Videl was going to be his by the time the field trip was over.

The current object of Rob's affections yawned and sat up. Attempted, rather. Something was holding her down, from the feel of it, and it felt like it had a death-grip on her.

Muttering and wiping the sleep out of her eyes with a knuckle, Videl tried to see what the heck was holding her while, at the same time, trying to figure out where she was and why she was there. After some pokes and prodding, she realized that someone else was in the closed area with her, and that whoever it was was a little too close for comfort.

Deciding against the more violent, normal Videl-ish way of doing things, she instead tried to pry the arm off and away from her stomach. Several minutes of attempting the technique resulted in nothing.

Finally, she resorted to what she realized was the best way to do some things.

"_WAKE UP!!_"

Gohan bolted awake, bumping his head on the side of the wall in the process as he squinted his eyes in the dark. With a loud yelp and grumble, he rubbed the sore spot with one hand while tightening his hold on whatever he had with the other. A small squeak sounded from his side, and he froze in place. Opening first one eye, then the other, he gasped - Videl was very much awake, and was staring at him.

"Oops!" Panicking, he tried to loosen his grip around Videl's waist. In the closed area that didn't work too well, all he succeeded in doing was manuevering them around in a more uncomfortable position then before. "Damn it..." He tried to move again, and collapsed against the other side of the closet wall, half of his body on top of Videl while the other half held itself up by leaning against the opposing wall.

Videl blinked at Gohan, who's face was directly in front of hers as he grinned apologetically and tried to move again. Her face twisted into an expression of slight irritation and embarassment and she shifted back in the closet, towards where she hoped the door would be. Maybe, if they were very, very lucky, it'd be open...

Gohan grunted and somehow managed to lift himself completely off Videl so that he was balancing in midair. Smiling to himself, he thanked Kami for remembering that they were in the dark and that he was, in fact, half-Saiyan. Flying had proven to be his best bet for escaping partial embarassment.

"Thank you," Videl murmured before struggling to her feet and trying the closet door again. Grimacing, she turned back to Gohan. "Still locked."

Getting to his feet in the confined space, the Saiyan gently brushed past Videl to the door.

"Let me give it a try..."

He manuevered himself so that he completely blocked the door from Videl's vision. Heating up his palm with a touch of ki, he pressed his finger to the lock. A lop-sided smile appeared on his face as he heard the lock slowly melt until it was deemed useless. Twisting the doorknob, Gohan opened the door and stepped out, holding it open for Videl.

_Why didn't I think of this before?_

"Wh-what.. H-how did you...?"

_Oh, yeah... that's why..._

A small sweatdrop appeared on Gohan's forehead as he scrambled in his mind for a response.

"Um... Lock-picking!"

Videl kept her stare on his face, unconvinced.

_He definately does not seem like the type that would know that kind of crap._

"I-I have some friends..." he stopped, hoping she would figure out the rest of his fake story on her own.

The girl seemed to take the bait and she stepped out of the closet, closing the door immediately afterwards. Turning back to Gohan she gave him one last look before nodding her head, sheepishly, then running out of the room for her own bedroom.

Gohan watched Videl run out and stretched out a hand, wiping the sweat away from the back of his neck. Naturally, Videl would probably have to sleep somewhere else. If Sharpener wasn't in the guys' bedroom, the demi-Saiyan had a vague idea of where he would be instead.

Shrugging, the boy tugged his shirt off and slipped into his own bed, letting out a sigh of relief. He had somehow managed to survive sleeping in a closet with Videl for about half the night, and she hadn't even hurt him.

After settling into bed, Gohan rested the back of his head on his arms as he stared at the ceiling, smiling slightly.

_Nope, she's not that bad at all. Once you get past all the hostility, of course._

He flipped over in bed, hugging his pillow tightly.

_Maybe we could be... friends._

Videl slipped back out of hers' and Erasas' bedroom, disgusted after seeing the couple in the incredibly ... well, let's just say it was in a way that she'd rather not see the two. Fortunately, she'd managed to snag some spare blankets and a pillow on her way out. At least sleeping on the couch for one night wouldn't be all _that_ bad.

She wandered into the main sitting room then stopped, the blankets and pillow dropping from her hands as she gaped at the sight. The room was completely trashed. Plastic cups were everywhere, along with some crumbs and other remenants of food. The couch's cushions where everywhere, and from the looks of it one of them was torn up a bit. All the furniture was still shoved to the side, but pieces of each had been dragged into the center of the room and were, basically, screwed up. Slapping her face, Videl groaned. There was no way in hell that she was going to be the one cleaning up the mess. She hadn't even been present for most of the party - for about the entire thing, she'd been locked in a closet with Son Gohan.

Cursing vividly she walked away from the sitting room to the kitchen, flipping on the faucet. Splashing water on her face, she shot another look at the wrecked room, cursing again.

"Erasa and Sharpener are oh-so dead tomorrow," she muttered, turning off the faucet while she grabbed her sleeping supplies.

_Where in the hell am I going to sleep now?_

Videl held up one hand, fingers raised as she ticked off her options.

"Erasa and Sharpener are in our room, so that's definately off limits for the night. The couch is trashed, and everyone in the other cabins is asleep, so I can't bunk with them..." One option remained, and there was no other way that she was going to last the night unless she went with it. Sighing in defeat, she held up the remaining finger and nodded. "The guy's room, it is."

Heading towards the rooms to the left of the cabin, she knocked on the door softly, letting it creak open. From the looks of it, Gohan had already hit the sack.

"Gohan?"

A figure sat up in one of the beds and looked in her direction.

"Wh-what?"

Gohan, half-asleep, stood from the bed. Wobbling slightly he made his way to where Videl was standing, scratching his head.

_Man, what could she want? I hope she isn't out for revenge since I got a little close in the closet..._

"I.. um.. need a place to sleep."

"Huh? Why?"

Videl placed her hands on her hips, scowling. "Is it really all that hard to figure out?"

Blinking, Gohan suddenly remembered why, exactly, Sharpener wasn't in the room. Blushing in the dark, he nodded his head slowly, only partially understanding.

"So? I can sleep in the spare bed?"

"Oh, t-that's not a prob... Okay, Videl."

Videl nodded to Gohan, a weary look suddenly about her. Turning from him she walked slowly to the bed, hiding a sigh as she pulled herself into the bed, blankets being tucked around her form as her face nested in the pillow.

Gohan watched after her, surprised as how tired she was, before slapping himself mentally for staring too long. Turning to his own bed he crawled in between the sheets, letting out a small yawn.

_Finally. Sleep. Sleep, in the same room as Videl._

His body stiffened as he winced. This was going to take some getting used to.

Of course, the reaction to Gohan and Videl sleeping in the same room, but not the same bed, was unpleasant. Sharpener slapped Gohan roughly on the back.

"What is _wrong_ with you!"

Erasa, taking a less violent approach, refused to make Videl and Gohan pancakes.

"Punishment for making the whole plan go downhill!"

The pair had, in turn, found themselves eating bowls of sugarpuffs for the morning meal.

"And they thought I was a dog for trying to hook them up so much," Videl grumbled into her bowl, sighing irritably as Gohan's stomach grumbled again. Casting a glare at him, she shook her head. "Are you ever _not _hungry?!"

Laughing nervously, Gohan smiled weakly. "Uh.. well.. come to think of it..."

Groaning, Videl took her bowl to the sink and dumped it in before heading to her room, slamming the door behind her.

Still laughing uneasily, Gohan slowly trailed off, ending the brief moment with a long, soft sigh, that only Sharpener caught. Smirking, Sharpener leaned his head on his arm.

"You see? There is something wrong with you."

Shooting a glare over his shoulder at Sharpener, Gohan stood and walked out the door, leaving the blonde to clear the table. After all, it was his day for clean up.

Walking out into the crisp morning air, the demi-Saiyan let out a breath of trapped air. Time to himself. Finally! Those two were driving him crazy, being on his back one second, doing over hentai-ish things the next. That was what they wanted him to be doing to _her!_ Her, Videl, would kill him if she even knew that it was even being considered. That was a big red sign that said stop to him. Stop, turn, run away. Except for when in a closed, compact space, when you have no other option...

_No! Bad Gohan! Hentai thoughts, bad! Very, very, bad!_

Slapping himself in the face, Gohan plopped down on a tree trunk, muttering under his breath. He was confused. Incredibly confused.

She seemed really... well, comfy with him. When they were sleeping, at least. She looked really angelic, almost the exact opposite of when she was awake. When she was awake, she acted like she hated him. He wasn't sure if it was all fake, really, but if it was an act, she was one good actress.

Gohan raised a head. Sharpener and Erasa, though stupid at times, were so _close_. He wondered how they did it. When Erasa was off shopping, like she was at the moment, Sharpener knew exactly where she was and what she was doing, and at times, why. At least most of the time - the only time he didn't was when he had overslept or something of the like.

The couple also completely understood each other, and their personalities bounced off each other as well. It was so great for them, and they already seemed like a life-time couple.

His thoughts were interrupted as a bag crashed next to his head, and he toppled back over the tree stump, crashing to the ground.

"Dang! Ouch!"

"Oh, sorry Gohan!" Erasa appeared next to him, juggling two grocery bags with her hands while giggling. She shifted her hold and tried to bend down to pick up the other bag before the two others also fell, joining their triplet on the dirt.

"Crap!" Erasa placed her hands on her hips, obviously irritated. "That was not supposed to happen!"

Gohan, grumbling a bit, stood and picked up the three bags with ease before turning to head back into the cabin. Erasa, eyes wide, followed suit.

"Hey, Gohan, you're pretty buff! Gohan? Gohan!"

Dumping the bags into the kitchen, Gohan trudged into his room, slamming the door behind him. Erasa stopped, a little shocked, before collapsing on the couch next to a half-asleep Sharpener. Turning her head, Erasa poked him in the stomach.

"Huh.. wha?"

"I think Videl and Gohan are both a little grouchy today."

"I bet it's that time of the month."

Erasa smacked Sharpener hard on the shoulder, making him wince. "Stupid! That's only for girls! Besides, it's so totally not that, otherwise Videl would've requested some certain supplies. I think it has to do with the closet time."

Now interested, Sharpener sat up, leaning his chin on his hand as he propped his elbow up on the couch cushion.

"Really, now. We can't let our favorite couple-to-be stay mad forever, can we?"

Eyes brightening, the blonde-haired girl nodded vigorously. "Right!"

"All they need is a push in the right direction."

"Yep, just a little help..."

Sharpener rubbed his hands together, an evil glint in his eye as Erasa let out a sly giggle.

"That can be arranged."

Several hours later, the four teens found themselves in the kitchen, preparing a small batch of food that they'd later use for the Baking Contest.

"Okay, you guys, hurry up with that pie!"

"Right, right..." Gohan mumbled into the bowl as he stirred it more quickly, Videl rolling her eyes as she shifted to the side away from him as she sliced up the peaches.

Erasa, after casting a quick glance at Videl and Gohan, turned back to Sharpener while winking.

"Operation Gohan and Videl, plan A!" she mouthed as she handed Sharpener a glass of water.

Grinning evily, the teen took a few casual strides forward, glass in hand. As he approached the pair, he suddenly tripped, the water splattering from the glass onto Videl's shirt. As always, Videl had been wearing her baggy white shirt. It didn't show much on its own, but when it was wet...

"Oh, whoa! Man, Videl, my bad!"

The girl, once again sopping wet, stood frozen for several long seconds. It was obvious she was trying to control her temper, and it didn't look like she was doing too well. Sneaking a look at Gohan, Sharpener smirked; yup, it was working.

The demi-Saiyan was blushing furiously, and it was obvious he was tryin to avert his gaze which didn't work. He was staring full-on at Videl, eyes wide. His jaw was hanging open slightly. Sure, it was the second time he'd seen the girl with a wet _white_ shirt, but the first time he hadn't even looked. This time, he was already looking at her when it'd happened, sooo--

"Son Gohan, what in the hell are you doing?" Videl's voice broke into his thoughts, dangerously quiet.

"Staring at your--oooop!!" Slapping a hand over his mouth, Gohan blushed an even darker red as he winced, Videl's glare beginning to have an effect on him.

_I have got to stop saying what I'm thinking! _he screamed at himself mentally, cowering back slightly as Videl advanced on him.

"Finish that sentence."

Unknown to both teens, Sharpener and Erasa had made their exit from the backdoor, Sharpener fearing a painful death and Erasa hoping the two would get around to making out.

"W-what?" Gohan stammered, grabbing for his shirt collar to tug at it nervously.

_Is it just me, or is it really hot in here?_

"Finish. That. Sentence." Videl puncuated each word clearly, eyes narrowing as she placed her hands on her hips.

_I wonder... is he gonna wimp out again or actually do it?_

"Well, I-I said.. I was.. staring.. atyourchest!!" he blurted out, before turning around and running for the door.

Grabbing the door knob, he attempted to yank it open to find it was locked. _No!! _he yelled to himself as he rattled the knob, knowing that if he broke down the door Videl would have even more reasons to be suspicious of him. A hand appeared on his shoulder and spun him around before shoving him up against a wall, Videl keeping him pinned to it as she lifted him to his toes by his shirt.

"First off, stop running off. Second..." She stopped mid-sentence, then smirked at him as she dropped his shirt, letting him slip from the wall to the ground as he stared up at her in shock. "You should figure it out from there."

Stepping over his sprawled out legs, she headed for the bedrooms as Gohan stared after her in wonder.

_Well, uh, wow._

Slowly stumbling to his feet, the teen rubbed his head, confused. "I don't know what she meant by figure it out from there," he muttered crossly as he slowly turned and tried the door knob again.

Naturally, the knob clicked and the door swung open as Gohan gaped at it in surprise, then embarassment.

_I guess I turned it the wrong way..._

Sighing, the teen walked out the door and slowly closed it behind him, heading nowhere in particular, when the bushes shook beside him. Eyeing it oddly, he shook his head and continued walking.

Seconds later, once Gohan had walked around a corner, two figures leaped out of the plant as leaves and branches flew in every which way, the majority of them sticking out of the two teens' hair.

"That was close!" Erasa gasped, sucking in a breath of air.

"Yeah, yeah. But did you see that? Operation Gohan and Videl, plan A--"

"--was only partly successful!" Erasa finished for Sharpener before frowning. "One of the next few plans had better work, before we run outta letters to use."

Sharpener straightened, yanking a twig out of his hair. "You really think we'll take that long?"

"Knowing Gohan's obliviousness, and Videl's stubborness... Yep."

**To be continued...**


	4. Super Saiyan Schizophrenia

Field Trip To Camp Hercule

**Field Trip To Camp Hercule**

--

**Previous chapter...**

--

"That was close!" Erasa gasped, sucking in a breath of air.

"Yeah, yeah. But did you see that? Operation Gohan and Videl, plan A--"

"--was only partly successful!" Erasa finished for Sharpener before frowning. "One of the next few plans had better work, before we run outta letters to use."

Sharpener straightened, yanking a twig out of his hair. "You really think we'll take that long?"

"Knowing Gohan's obliviousness, and Videl's stubbornness... Yep."

--

_Super Saiyan Schizophrenia_

--

"_How to Get Your Friends Together._" Erasa flipped the book open, to the last page before reading the words outloud.

"Remember, always put your lovers-to-be in situations when they'll be physically close. Of course, the loss of some clothing wouldn't be so bad either."

A wide, evil grin spread over Erasa's face as Sharpener blinked, scratching his head. He still hadn't been able to wash out all the dirt from his hair from their last failed plan, ending with them hiding in a bush.

After several moments of silence, Sharpener spoke up.

"So?"

Erasa snapped the book shut, then turned to her boyfriend, an eyebrow quirked as she frowned at him.

"Whatta you mean ... 'so'?! Isn't it obvious?"

"Isn't _what_ obvious?"

Sighing irritably, Erasa flung her hands in the air in exasperation.

"I should've listened to my mother about guys like you!" Mimicking a high-pitched whiny voice, she continued - "'There may be some boys out there who seem wonderful, honeybunch, but stick with the smart ones! Those are the best in the long-run!"

The teen's eyes widened as his face fell. "Hey, that wasn't nice..."

"_Men!!_"

Blonde-hair whipping behind her, Erasa spun on her heel and stomped off, huffing all the way as her face burned a bright, furious red.

Sharpener took a step forward, a small frown forming on his face. "Hon, I'm sorry! Really! I didn't mean to--" he stopped, shaking his head as he groaned. "Women."

Erasa flipped the book backwards into her bookbag as she cast an irritated glance over her shoulder. How could he be so stupid sometimes?

_Doesn't he remember anything?_ _Wait, this is Sharpener, the man who forgot what day Spring Break started. Of course he didn't remember..._

She plopped down on a nearby bench, shaking her head and muttering. Out of all things, he shouldn't have forgotten that they were going to be going swimming. After all, it was written all over the schedule in big, bold letters - how could the dolt not notice? Swimming was legendary at the camp. That was the one time the counselors, being their normal, 'sensible' selves, left the teenagers to frolic alone in the lake. Baaaad idea. Last year, when that'd happened, most of the guy's pantsed the girls, and the girls had ended up fighting back by doing the same. Then again, the girl's tended to be more mean - most of the swimming trunks were lost, and the guys had to streak back to the cabins.

What was going to happen this year, she didn't know, but she had an idea of what she was going to _force_ to happen, if it didn't take place on its own. So many accidents can happen at a lake, anyways. No one to blame for those!

Thoroughly pissed, Videl rummaged through the laundry, muttering. Another stupid shirt was wet, so that meant she had to get another! Normally, she'd be happy to dry it in the drying machine, but the one's at the camp were crappy and would probably shrink it. Only other option was air dry, and there was no way that she was going to walk around the rest of the day in a wet, _white, _shirt. A wet white shirt that Gohan had seen her in _twice,_ the second time being the worst.

Yanking a clean and dry shirt out of the luggage, Videl quickly peeled off the wet shirt and replaced it with the other. She had to admit, the look on Gohan's face had been hilarious. Her auto-reaction was to get annoyed, but she later realized that she didn't mind at all. In fact...

_Wait! This is Gohan we're talking about. Remember, Gohan's a freak, we don't like Gohan._

_**We don't like Gohan? I'm pretty sure we do. I mean, since when do you let a guy get a good look like that without totally beating the pulp out of him?**_

_I felt sorry for him!_

_**Sure. Go ahead, say what you want, but I know the truth.**_

_You are me, baka._

Videl cut her thoughts shorts, slapping herself lightly upside the head. She was doing it again, she was arguing with herself! About Gohan, none the less. She finally came to a forced conclusion that the brief moment of niceness that she'd felt towards Gohan had meant she was weakening emotionally, which she guessed had something to do with the fact that her father was coming back to camp in a few days to have a fighting match with some students. That knowledge was enough to make her gag.

She had spent her days trying to get away from him, and just when she had a chance to get out of the house, he was coming to the camp, which was named after _him!_

_Arrogant bastard._

Falling silent, Videl turned and glanced around the room as a loud ringing sounded. After tracking down the source of the noise, the girl slipped her cell out of her bag and clicked it open.

"Satan Videl speaking."

_"Miss Satan! Captain Goma speaking. I'm sorry to disturb you, but we need help again--"_

"Please say it's not another bank robbery."

_"No, no! It's just a, ah, minor problem... Well, we need some help here."_

A petrified yell sounded in the background over the phone, soon followed by a high pitch scream. Videl winced and held the cell away from her ear until the scream died down, then put it to her ear again.

"Okay, I _know_ that. I just need to know what you need help _with, _and _where._" Normally, she wouldn't have been so short with him, but it'd been a long day - she had her reasons.

_"Oh, right! In the mall, they're pretty much hitting up every store they can get to. Chaos and havoc everywhere..."_

"Alright, hold up until I'm there." Snapping the cell closed before shoving it back into her bag, Videl grabbed the bag and slung it over her shoulder as she ran outside. Waving and yelling to a passing counselor about the robbery, she sprinted to her helicopter and jumped inside, immediately turning the ignition to take flight. Within seconds she was in the air, speeding towards the city.

_What's that noise, anyways?_

Gohan raised his head, looking to the skies curiously. There was some motor thing up there, but since when were planes and helicopters in forest areas? A lightbulb suddenly clicked on in Gohan's brain.

_Gaaack! Videl!_

The yellow machine flew by with a burst of wind over his head, blades chopping at the air. Blinking and gasping for air as dust exploded into his face, Gohan rubbed his eyes with his knuckles to clear his vision. Seconds later, he was airborne as well, shooting full-speed after Videl in his Saiyaman outfit.

"Gotta keep up, otherwise I'll lose her," he whispered to himself before jetting forward with a burst of speed, so that he was directly behind the helicopter. Remaining the short distance behind her, he surveyed their location - they were currently flying over the city, once again heading to where its center was located.

Rolling his eyes, Gohan sighed. Those robber guys better not have escaped or something, and had better not try to rob the same bank again! Suddenly the helicopter veered to the right, the caped hero following. Nope, it was the mall this time. And what a robbery it was.

Panicked civillians crowded the parking lot as cars honked frantically, people running out of the mall from the left and right. Cop cars surrounded the building, and a few military helicopters were stationed above the roof. Videl's helicopter soon dropped from the air to head towards the roof, landing easily on the top. Gohan, knowing he was about to get an earful, landed behind the machine as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Stepping out of the helicopter, Videl turned and stalked up to him.

"What are you doing here?"

Blinking innocently, Gohan scratched the back of his head and spoke lowly - "Who, me?"

"Yes, you," responded Videl, exasperated.

"Why, I'm helping _you_, naturally!"

A long silence stretched between them after the comment, before the girl huffed and turned away, running to the door that led to the stairs.

_**That**__ didn't go over too well..._

Shaking his head, Gohan jogged after her, closing the door behind them as he clattered down the steps. Videl wasn't even trying to be quiet. Element of surprise? Gone. Not like the bad guys, whoever they were, would care; there were already hundreds of people all running around screaming while waving their arms above their heads.

Popping the door open from the stairs to the mall, Videl was suddenly pushed back up against Gohan and the pair slammed into the wall as a surge of people shoved past them and began to run down the stairs, some tripping and falling to roll down the steps instead. The pair was shoved up into a corner until the flow of victims had diminished to none.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Gohan looked down and blushed. Yep, he'd done it again, the whole get-too-close-to-Videl-and-end-up-being-embarassed thing. Oopsie.

Videl glanced up at Gohan, who was still holding her tightly in his arms and squinted slightly as she tried to look up the bottom of his helmet. The Saiyan finally noticed what she was attempting to do after several seconds and yanked his helmet down, almost slapping himself in the process as Videl blinked and frowned before pulling away.

"Ummm. Well, since you're here - let's just take these guys out, okay?"

"What? Ah-oh, right." Nodding his head vigorously, Gohan ran out of the door following closely behind Videl, letting out a small sigh as he did so.

The two teens jogged through the mall, neatly dodging screaming civillians as they ran past, heading to where all the sound seemed to be coming from. Not the screaming, but the explosions and loud bang of gunshots. These guys meant _business._

Suddenly, the daughter of Hercule skidded to a stop, Gohan crashing into her from behind. They both tumbled to the floor with a loud thump, and continued skidding across the marble ground for several feet before crashing into a wall and coming to a stop.

"Oh, geez!" Videl cursed under her breath, cradling her head with both hands as she groaned.

A weak, sheepish smile on his face, Gohan stood, extending a helpful hand to Videl which she blatantly ignored. Scratching the back of his head, the Saiyan slowly drew back his arm and laughed uneasily, slowly falling silent as Videl turned her head slightly, glaring at him out of the corner of her eye.

"What is so _funny?_" she questioned, eyes glinting.

"Whoa, I didn't say anything was funny--"

"You _implied _itby _laughing_!"

A low cough sounded from a nearby bench, and Videl and Gohan turned to see two guns cocked and aimed at their faces, smirking thugs holding the triggers.

_Awww, man! This is not going the way it's supposed to!_

Videl blinked once, hard, then again, mouth hanging open just a bit. That had not been expected at all. One second, she was arguing with some caped _idiot_, the next, she was being held up by some two dumbasses who she could take anywhere, anytime and in anyway--well, if they didn't have guns, that is. She was good, but not that good. Not quite as fast as a bullet, not quite as strong as steel--she wasn't superwoman, for crying out loud!

Forcing a self-reassured grin, Videl went for one of two options that were available to her in her mind. Running was out of the question. Bluffing, however...

"Hey, guys. Want to talk negotiations? I'm sure the few hundred guys back there would be happy to sit and watch."

The two men glanced at each other, then back at Videl before breaking out into laughter.

"Oh, sure, babe." Another man stepped up from behind the two thugs, pushing past them to stand in between them. "We have scouts all over, and they've been reporting that the cops have been running scared. We ain't got nothing to worry about with you two going down. The babe of Satan City, and," the man sneered as he glanced at Gohan. "the masked moron himself, Great Saiyaman."

Gohan shook his head quickly, then spun, fists clenched at his sides. His Saiyan pride had just been insulted!

"_What_ did you say?!" he nearly yelled, somehow managing to keep his voice relatively calm and level.

"You heard me." The man grinned suddenly, adjusting a backwards baseball cap on his head. "Moron. Idiot. Stupid. Weak."

Now, the first few insults didn't bother him too much, even though they were enough to make him want to take down the bad guys more. But saying he was weak, however--oh, that just made him furious.

"I don't THINK SO!!"

Gohan drew his arms to his sides as he closed his eyes, muscles flexed as he growled deeply within his throat, then let out an enraged yell, his helmet bursting off and away from his body as the energy coursed over his body, his blonde spikes shooting upwards and extending. Taking a step back and shaking his head, the Saiyan opened a single aqua-marine eye, and growled again, more lowly this time.

"Oh, shit!" The leader's face was contorted with surprise. "Shoot! Damn it, are you hearing me! All units, _shoot them now!_"

On command, tens of hundreds of bullets rang out of machine guns and pistols to speed towards the teens. Videl, too shocked to let out a shriek, squeezed her eyes shut as she waited for a hit when she was suddenly yanked off her feet and into the air. Eyes popping open again she gasped as the Golden Fighter held her easily with one arm while firing blasts of energy with his other hand.

"--and _this_ is for my dad, and _this _is for Goten, and, hell, why not; _this_ one is for VEGETA!"

Videl, still in some state of shock, stared at the golden guy who was holding her. The Great Saiyaman and the Golden Fighter were the same person?! Was she seeing things?

"Never say I'm _weak_, you idiots!" Gohan shot another blast of energy at a fleeing thug, laughing manically as he topped over and crashed into a window. Sure, he wasn't killing the guys, he was just putting them out of working order for a few hours, but it still felt good.

Unaware that his Saiyan side had taken over, Gohan continued firing blasts of ki in every direction until he slowly calmed, breathing heavily as he took a long look at the scene of destruction around him. Everywhere, there was rubble, glass, and unconcious criminals. The jailhouse was going to be pretty full for awhile.

Meanwhile, still held captive in Gohan's grip, Videl was trying to squirm her way out of it.

_My God... I'm confused. Fighter? Saiyaman? Spaz gone evil?_

It eventually occured to her that getting away from Saiyaman might be a bit easier if she told him to let go. After all, he would do that and blush and so on, as he always did. Right? Right.

"Saiyaman, do me a favor and let go, okay?" she muttered irritably, glancing at the ground about ten or so feet down. "Uh, Saiyaman? Earth to Saiyamaaan..." Reaching up, Videl waved a hand in his face when Gohan suddenly grabbed it with his own, head turning slightly to stare at her.

"Hey! I said let go, not hold on!" she yelled, struggling to get out of his grasp. Didn't work at all. "Oh, come on--"

A large, evil smirk suddenly appeared on Saiyaman's face, and he dropped her. As in totally let go, so that she found herself stationary in the air one second before, then dropping like a rock the second.

"_What the hell!_"

Shifting in the air, then flipping, she landed a bit roughly on her two feet as she stumbled forward. Recovering, she turned and glared up to where the Gold Fighter remained, flying in small circles, as she placed her hands on her hips.

"You bastard!" she yelled, stomping her foot once for added effect. The only response she got was a low chuckle from the golden-haired guy.

_Cocky son of a gun..._

Videl couldn't believe it. If she had her helicopter available at the moment, she would've flown up and kicked that idiot's ass. Besides that, she was pretty confused about his current attitude. Last time she'd checked, he was the moronic, naive guy with a trashcan of a helmet and a cape. Now, all of a sudden, he was an evil, mean, self-assured guy who'd blown off his helmet and whipped off his cape, and had golden spikes for hair. That was one big transformation.

_That's it. I need to talk to him, now._

"Saiyaman, Gold Fighter, whatever! Get down here!"

She didn't expect him to listen, but he ended up swooping down to land in front of her, arms crossed over his chest as he continued to sport a cocky, self-confident smirk.

"Want something?"

"More like I want to know what the heck is going on--" she started, before he stepped forward and spoke quickly.

"What? What do you think is going on?"

"You tell me," Videl countered.

Grinning widely, Saiyaman took another step forward, effectively cornering Videl against a wall. Placing a hand on each side of her head, he leaned forward, so that their faces were almost touching. Tilting forward, he whispered in her ear seductively.

"Why all the questions? There are better things to do besides asking questions all the time."

Videl's jaw dropped open slightly, and she blushed, muttering under her breath as she glanced to the side.

"Well, I, uh--"

"Come on." The Saiyan let his hands drop to rest on Videl's shoulders, and he leaned even closer, raising one hand to lightly trace a finger over the girl's collarbone. "No more questions."

Eyes wide open, Videl shook her head, trying to knock herself out of her semi-trance.

_This isn't fair! He's using this whole change of attitude to his advantage! It's definately time to stop this._

Placing both hands on his chest, Videl shoved Saiyaman back and stepped away from in front of him, scowling.

"Stop it! I know you're just acting that way so that I won't--"

The Saiyan turned and advanced on her, grinning all the way. "You won't what?"

Surprised, Videl stanced, fists raised defensively. "Don't come any closer! I'm warning you..."

He kept walking towards her at a steady pace, eyebrow twitching. "What? What are you gonna do?"

_Okay, I've had it._ "This!" Charging forward a step, Videl slammed her fist into the Great Saiyaman's face.

The teen reeled back just a little, shaking his head as he regained his balance. He blinked, and looked down at himself before looking back at Videl. Already, the girl had turned and had run off in some other direction.

Gohan scratched his head, confused, as his golden spikes disappeared and were replaced with his usual black hair. From the side, he picked up his cape and helmet, shoving them back on before turning back.

"What the heck just happened there?"

He vaguely remembered going Super, but after that, it was pretty blurry. Darn! Now Videl knew he was the Gold Figher... but that was currently the least of his worries. Maybe it had something to do with that punch--he remembered Videl punching him in the face, alright, but that was just about it. She must've been mad, because it actually stung a little. Not that much, but still was pretty good considering she was a human and he was a demi-Super Saiyan at the time.

_Man, I hope I didn't do anything stupid or something like that..._

The police were finally filing back into the mall, glancing once at Saiyaman before calling for back-up and the medics. They were going to need a load of stretchers for whatever had taken place there.

Police Captain Goma walked up to him, nodding once before speaking.

"Thanks for the help, Saiyaman. Looks like you and Miss Satan and turning out to be a great team."

"Oh, right. Thanks..." Gohan trailed off. Him and Videl, a fighting team? Not such a bad idea...

"But do you know where she is? I haven't seen her since you guys ran in. You'd better check up on her."

Blinking, Gohan nodded.

"Alright, thanks. Now, I gotta deal with cuffing these big boys, so, see you around!" Saluting, the Captain turned sharply before jogging to where the rest of the squad waited.

After slight hesitationg, Gohan stepped away and took to the air, heading out through the skylight.

_Guess I'd better look for Videl, then._

Panting, Videl came to a slow stop. The stupid capsule that held her helicopter had decided to get _stuck_, or something. Either way, it resulted in her having to run around just to get anywhere. Resting a hand against a tree thunk, she leaned on it heavily, catching her breath. Next time, she wasn't going to run so hard like she was panicked or anything--even though, she had to admit, that whole thing with Saiyaman was scary in a weird sense.

"Why did he have to go and do that!" she complained to no one in particular. "It was so stupid and unexpected, and I hate surprises!"

Heart rate restored to normal, she pushed off the tree and began pacing. "He was being all messed up just to stop me from asking questions..." She threw her hands up in exasperation. "and it worked! Darn him, darn him, darn hi--"

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Ack!" Videl yelped and toppled over backwards, staring up with saucer-sized eyes at the caped superhero in front of her. He was back. Again. Probably to torture her some more.

She remained frozen on the ground until Saiyaman stepped forward, extending a hand.

"Need some hel--"

"Get away! _Get away!_" Videl waved her hands in front of her face furiously, eyes squeezed shut as the man stumbled back from her, obviously surprised.

"W-what?"

Slowly bringing her flailing hands to a stop, Videl opened both eyes and glared up at him. He was back in full attire, no golden spikes visible.

_Why is he acting ... normal again?_

"What do you mean, what?" Videl demanded, slowly pulling herself to her feet. "You can't just be some perverted ass to me and then, a few minutes later, act like nothing happened!"

The blank look remained on Gohan's face. "What? Did I do something bad?"

Videl face-faulted. Maybe he always was a moronic superhero, and he just had a temporary case of schizophrenia. "You... don't remember anything?"

"Huh?"

_Oh, geez. This is really beginning to freak me out._

"Riiight. Well, never mind. Nothing happened. Nothing at all!" Laughing uneasily, Videl slowly turned and began to walk away, praying that he wouldn't follow her--

"Wait! Videl!"

_Darn. Why isn't anything going my way today?!_

Saiyaman jogged up until he was standing next to Videl, and stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Wait, okay? I just, well..." Scratching his head, he chuckled a little under his breath. "Honestly, I don't remember a thing. But, in case I did anything stupid or evil or something like that, I'm sorry."

Videl paused, stopping in her tracks as Gohan's hand remained on her shoulder. He actually apologized? For something he wasn't even sure of what he did?

_That's so CUTE!_

Turning her head slightly, she flashed a small smile at him. "Thanks." With that, she continued walking.

Gohan continued staring after her for several seconds, before cracking a small grin. _I think she accepted it!_ Placing two fingers on his forward, he quickly mouthed the words Instant Transmission, and vanished.

"Where the hell are they?"

Sharpener glanced at his watch, then back at his magazine. "Just forget it, babe. It's, what, an hour over. Videl's probably off saving some people, and Gohan's ditching. Go figure."

Letting out a loud, frustrated sigh, Erasa plopped back down into her chair. "Okay, okay. Fine. Since they've decided to ditch and leave us all alone in crafting with these _idiots,_" She fell quiet as a counselor walked by. "then we might as well plan how to get them. Together."

Sharpener nodded, never taking away his eyes from the magazine. "Mmhm."

"So, let's think. Swimming isn't for awhile, not until the day of the whole deciding baking contest junk. Fortunately, most of the food is cooked and ready since _I'm_ in the group and everyone else just slacked off..." She shot a meaningful glare at Sharpener before continuing. "So, we're just going to do mostly group activities through the rest of the week. Herc is coming in, what, one day, the fourth day of the trip. He's going to have a fighting tournament--"

"Which I'm entering in, and plan to win, of course," Sharpener interrupted.

"Uh, sure." _Dream on, lover, Videl's going to kick your ass._ "Anyways. Videl's obviously entering, and Gohan will enter too."

The blonde-haired teen dropped his magazine, nearly bolting from his chair. "_What?!_"

"I said, Gohan's going to enter."

Sharpener paused, then let out a loud, harsh laugh. "Okay babe, sure, whatever. I don't know how you think that's gonna happen, considering he's a a wuss and all..." He stopped, gulping, when Erasa shot an evil look at him. "I mean, he's a great guy and all, but he seems a lot more like the dorky type than the fighter! Ya see what I'm sayin'?"

Erasa grinned. "I know that, doofus. I didn't say he'd enter it on his own. He's just going to need a little convincing, and maybe some help on our part."

Realization suddenly dawned on Sharpener, and a wide, evil smile formed on his face. "Oh, yeaaaah... I can see it now."

"Wait, I want to know what you're seeing here, buddy." Erasa's eyebrow twitched as she glanced at her boyfriend. He had a tendency to vision the very opposite of what she meant.

"I'm thinkin', Gohan and Videl, sparring off, then BANG! We burst in and tell them to get with it, that everyone thinks they should be together (save any Gohan fangirls and Videl fanboys) and then get them to kiss and go out! Howzat?"

A large sweatdrop coursed down Erasa's forehead. "Ummm. Not... quite.. what I had in mind..."

"Oh." Sharpener snapped his fingers, a little bummed out. "Darn it! Well, what's your idea? If yours doesn't work we can always use mine--"

"Yeah, yeah. Mine has Gohan and Videl fighting, then Videl gets hurt or something, kay? And then Gohan gets all concerned, admits some true love junk, they go out. There we go, case closed."

Sharpener remained silent for several seconds, until his expression brightened. "Hey! That's a pretty good idea, Erasa!"

The girl flipped her blonde-hair, obviously proud. "Of course it is. It took me an hour last night to think it up!"

The pair glanced at each other, then exchanged a high-five as they spoke in unison.

"**Operation Gohan and Videl, plan B in session!**"

Gohan slumped into his bed, shoving some clothes out of the way. He'd missed crafting again, unfortunately. Unfortunate that his classmates and counselors were probably getting suspicious, fortunate that he didn't have to sit through several hours of boredom. Actually, he would've preferred going through the torture of making crafty-things, like picture frames made out of popsicle sticks and such, then having to assume he went freaky on Videl and not remember one second of it.

Resting his head in his hands, Gohan let out a long, quiet sigh. "I hope I didn't do anything really bad. I mean, she seemed almost... scared of me."

He pounded the bed mattress in frustration. "What in the bloody heck did I do! She's not going to tell me, she was avoiding the subject when I kinda asked...!"

Giving up, he decided to stop beating himself up about it. For the time being, at least. Maybe she'd tell him sometime, and then he could figure out--wait. Maybe he didn't want to know what happened. Pausing, he went over anything that'd happened in the past that could somehow connect to it...

That's it. He stopped, eyes wide. "Oh, no!" he gasped, as he went over the events that'd happened. He'd gone Super... That was it!

He must've changed into Saiyan personality, and forgot to let him human side stay intact! It'd happened before when he was fighting with Vegeta. He didn't remember anything until the end, when a ki blast to the face had knocked him out of Super and he had crashed into a wall.

_Gohan shot a punch into Vegeta's chin as his aqua-marine eyes flashed, then tackled him again, a large smirk that was similar to Vegeta's appearing on his face as the Prince fell back a short distance in response. He growled under his breath as the man stood, stancing, and spat out:_

_"I'll kill you!"_

_Vegeta smirked, drawing back a hand and ducking to the side as a punch sailed past his head, followed soon by a roundhouse to the legs._

_"That's what you think, brat of Kakarott."_

_Jumping over the kick, the Saiyan flew back a short distance, then sped directly at Gohan. The boy growled and jumped into midair, hovering as the Prince flew under him. He began to slowly turn, when he blinked, feeling a ki spike behind him. Spinning, his eyes widened. A large ki blast had already been formed in Vegeta's hand, and in seconds it was sailing at his face--_

_Gohan flew backwards, slamming into the wall of the Gravity Room, a large indention appearing on its side. He coughed, sputtering as his golden spikes vanished, and eyes returned to their onyx black. He shook his head and stood, scratching the back of his neck as he gazed around the room._

_"What happened?"_

_Vegeta glanced at him from where he stood in the center of the room, then returned to dusting his hands off._

_"You're improving. At least some of your Saiyan side shows, maybe more than your idiotic father knows. I never thought I would hear such words coming from the mouth of that moron's son, who believes all is good and deserves to live," he mocked, before turning away._

Gohan slapped himself upside the head, then started banging his forehead against a wall. "No, no, no! I can't believe I let myself do that!"

Videl had said he had been perverted and evil, or something like that. No wonder she was scared of him. He'd seen Vegeta in heat when around Bulma, and it was not a pretty sight.

"At least I apologized to her, even though I think she deserves more than an apology!"

Shaking his head sadly, the Saiyan stood, staring out the window. Where was she, anyways? Wait, she'd been walking when he'd caught up with her. Chances are, she was still walking back towards Camp. He raised his senses as he searched for her ki signature - there. She was still about an hour's walk away from Camp; she was taking her time.

A sudden thought appeared in Gohan's mind. _I could pick her up, it'd save her some time, and give us a chance to talk--_

_**About what, Gohan? Let me remind you, well, me, that you're Gohan at the moment, not the Great Saiyaman. What is there to talk about, since we "don't know" about that whole crisis?**_

_Oh, yeah. Fine, I can pick her up as the Great Saiyaman!_

_**Fine, do whatever. I recommend you just save the silly outfit though, and take a car or something. Just wear some normal guy clothes (not the one's you're wearing now you idiot) and sunglasses and bandanna. After all, you have to hide your identity somewhat without looking like an idiot who has been pretending to fly this entire time, ne?**_

_Right. Gotcha._

Gohan grabbed a small capsule out of his drawer, then grabbed a spare change of clothes - not the kind he normally wore, but what Bulma had given him as a present once. He knew that it was exactly what all the other guys wore, the white muscle shirt tank top and baggy blue jeans. He didn't wear it at school or around the Camp because it showed too many muscles. But since he was supposed to be Saiyaman, he guessed it didn't matter.

From another part of his suitcase, he snagged the white bandanna and sunglasses he always carried just in case, and slipped them on before running outside.

_Thank Kami Bulma taught me how to drive._

Videl kicked a rock as she walked down the pavement, hands locked tightly behind her back. Okay, chances were getting higher by the second that she was going to end up ditching the entire day of Camp activities, due to how slow she was walking. But she didn't care at all. She needed someone to talk to, and she figured she might as well sulk around until she either found someone, or had given up on it.

Stupid Saiyaman, confusing her all the time. And pissing her off, too. And scaring her, and... the list could go on forever. He was almost as bad as Gohan, if not worse.

The apology had been nice, but she'd expected a little more from him. Maybe an explanation, or something like that, but from the looks of it, he was clueless. She wasn't about to fully explain to him what had taken place, either. No way. That wasn't going to happen.

A car screeched in front of her as she started crossing the street, and she jumped back, eyes wide. "Watch it! You..." she yelled, and was about to continue ranting when she trailed off. The guy in the car looked pretty familiar...

"Aw, geez. Sorry... I mean--!" Gohan coughed, deepening his voice. "Miss Videl, you want a ride?"

Videl blinked, then let out a quiet sigh, holding her forehead with one hand. Her problem had just decided to cruise up out of nowhere, without his normal costume, of course.

"I don't think that's such a good idea--" she started, when he interrupted her.

"Really, I insist! After all, you don't have your 'copter or something, right? Driving's easier than walking..." Gohan fell silent, still looking over at Videl hopefully.

_Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes..._

Videl sighed again, shaking her head in defeat. "Fine." She walked up to the red car and pulled the door open, slamming it behind her as she buckled her seat belt.

"Great!" Gohan quickly manuevered the sports car into the traffic, in the direction of the Camp. Fortunately, rush over was pretty much over, so it wouldn't take too long.

The ride was quiet, save the occassional cough. Glancing once at Videl, who was staring out the passenger seat window while resting her chin on her fist, Gohan drew in a deep breath. It wasn't going quite exactly as he planned, but he had to admit - he had expected her to be ticked. Really ticked, obviously.

"I have a question."

Gohan's eyebrow raised. "Shoot."

Videl shifted from her position, so that she was staring straight ahead. "Just about how you're the Gold Figher _and_ the Great Saiyaman."

Pausing, Gohan stayed quiet, before responding. "What do you want to know about it?"

"Well, why, mostly."

_I owe it to her. Besides, she won't tell anyone. There's no reason to... would she?_

"I'll tell you if you can promise me something."

"What's that?"

"To not tell anyone else."

Videl smirked slightly, crossing her arms over her chest. "What, you think I wanted to know so I could tell all those reporters out there? Are you crazy?"

"Oh..." Chuckling a bit, Gohan scratched the back of his head with one hand while keeping the other on the steering wheel.

_Pfft, yeah. I should've known - Videl doesn't like reporters either._

"I promised you that, now you have to keep your side of it," she prompted, casting an expectant glance at Saiyaman.

"Right." Gohan nodded once, then launched into the explanation. Fortunately, it wouldn't take too long to say. "First time I--I started the whole superhero thing, I didn't really... well, I didn't plan it. I mean, I wasn't planning to do the entire help the citizens of Orange Star city thing. But I saw some guys in a shoot-off with the cops, and it looked like the cops could use some back-up. So, I changed, and kicked some bad guy butt, then left. Everyone just started me calling the Gold Fighter after that, and I just figured that I should keep up the crime fighting."

"So why didn't you stay the Gold Figher, instead of switching?"

"Well, uh, going 'Gold', or whatever you guys call it, takes a lot out of me. I mean, it's more time consuming." Gohan sweatdropped as he glanced at Videl. _I hope she didn't notice the lie in that..._ "Yeah. Anyways. This outfit is a lot faster to change into, and is more like an armor. It also hides my identity more efficiently, with the helmet and visor and everything."

"Okay."

_Thank Kami! I thought she was gonna know I was lying for sure. Luck is on my side for once._

"Hey..."

Confused, Gohan turned back towards Videl. "Huh?"

Videl, who was blushing a bit, brushed back a lock of jet-black hair as she continued to stare out the front window. "Umm, about that thing. You know, earlier? What had happened there--"

"Oh, _that!_" He'd almost totally forgotten to talk to her about it. "I know what happened now! I figured out that it was, oh, wait..." Muttering, Gohan rubbed his temples with a hand. How in the heck was he supposed to explain what had happened without telling Videl he was part Saiyan? "I... Ahh. I, um, hmm."

"Just spit it out, Saiyaman," Videl grumbled crossly.

"Okay, okay!" It took a little bit of thinking, but he'd figured out a way to say it. "I kinda went more aggressive when I changed to Gold Fighter, since I, uhh, act different when I'm as Gold Fighter. That's another reason on why everyone, not just me, is better off when I'm as Saiyaman and not the Fighter. I'm not as... nice, when I'm Gold."

"That's for sure..." _Oh, Dende. He does have schizophrenia! Or at least he sure __**acts **__like it._

They finally pulled up to the Camp's parking lot. Videl glanced out the window once, then quickly unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door. As she stepped out of the car, she suddenly froze, then looked back, staring hard into Gohan's sunglasses.

"Just wait a second..."

Turning fully, she crawled back into the car as Gohan kept his wide eyes locked on her, bewildered.

_What'd I do?_

Videl reached forward and grabbed Gohan's shirt, yanking him towards her so that his face was only inches from her. A small smirk visible on her lips, she watched with some interest as the teen squirmed nervously, surprised. Yep, he was back to normal.

"How in the world did you know I needed a ride _here?_" she demanded, trying to control her laughter as Gohan's eyebrows popped up, and he started sputtering.

"I-I-I've seen you come here! That's how!" he choked out, as Videl tightened her grasp on his shirt.

She couldn't keep it in anymore. Videl burst out laughing, releasing Gohan as she fell over, holding her stomach. The Saiyan grabbed her as she almost toppled out of the car, then yanked her back in, letting out a sigh of relief. At least she wasn't acting as threatening or something.

"You can't lie at all, can you?" Videl gasped as she continued to laugh her head off, twisting slightly so that she was muffling her giggles in Gohan's shirt.

Realizing what she was doing (even if Videl herself was unaware of it), Gohan began to blush heavily as he hesitantly placed his arms around the girl, not exactly knowing where else to put them.

After several minutes of uncontained laughing and snickering, Videl slowly calmed down, only chuckling a bit as she sat up, leaning back on whatever she had been using to stop from laughing so loudly.

_Hey, wait..._

Her eyes widened as she came to realize that she was leaning back against the Great Saiyaman, and his arms were still wrapped very contentedly around her. Lunging forward, out of his hold, she bolted for the door, hitting her head on the top of the car in the process.

"Crap!" Cursing vividly under her breath, she shoved the door open and almost fell out before she caught her balance again. Finally escaping through the car door, she let out a sigh of relief; she was finally in a not-as-embarassing position.

Gohan followed suit, stepping out of the passenger-seat door behind Videl, an eyebrow arched as Videl turned away from him, arms crossing over her chest again. _What in the world..._

"Videl?" Blinking, he shook his head and corrected himself, adjusting his voice. "Miss Videl?"

"What?" she snapped, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks. _Don't look at him, don't look at him, don't look at him..._

Thoroughly confused, Gohan leaned back, hand behind his neck, and did exactly as Chi-Chi had always told him to; "Should I accompany you back to the Cabins?" He was a gentleman.

Videl coughed, eyes wide as she spun to face him. "_What?_" she yelped, arms waving. "Accompany me?! Do you have any idea what--" Slowing to a stop, she let her arms drop to her sides, then fell completely silent. _Do you have any idea what Sharpener, Erasa and..._ she flashed an evil grin mentally. _...Gohan, would say?_ "Actually, you know what? I think you should." Smirking all the while, she turned and began heading back to the Cabins, an astonished Saiyaman trotting at her heels.

"What do you mean he's going to be late? ... What?! He's doing a photoshoot _where?!_"

Erasa groaned and smacked herself upside the head, as Sharpener continued to remain fascinated with the current crafting project. Her entire plan, her idea! Ruined, because Videl's father had decided to hit the Bahamas for a photoshoot.

"Photoshoot my ass," she muttered, picking as the wooden table. "He's probably just looking for an early vacation."

According to the Camp Director, who had planned the fighting event for several years in a row, Hercule wasn't going to show until the _last_ day of the field trip, which shifted the entire schedule. Now, the Surprise Night (whatever the hell that was going to be) would be tomorrow, then the deciding for the Baking contest along with swimming on that day, then the hiking. Last, the tournament.

The Director stomped his foot, slamming the cell shut as he cursed loudly, causing several girls in the room to gasp, while the guys just started laughing in response.

Erasa nudged Sharpener in the side as she glanced back at the Director, who was in the process of dsetroying a castle of cardboard boxes.

"Did you hear that?"

The blonde-haired teen only mumbled in response as he continued to sift through the different popsicle sticks.

"Psst, Sharpener!" she whispered, more loudly.

"Now, what color should I use next... blue, maybe..?" Sharpener held up a blue stick, looking it over.

Sick of being ignored, Erasa punched her boyfriend--hard--in the ribs. "Sharpener!" she hissed, almost breaking into giggles as she watched the man keel over, gasping for air. "I _said,_ did you hear that?"

"W-what?"

"Hercule isn't coming until the last day of camp!"

Sharpener bolted up, eyes wide. "What!" he screeched, fists clenched.

"Calm down, you nincompoop! It's not like it's your life on the line--"

"Yes, it is! You know how much I bet some geek that I would kick his ass in the tournament _tomorrow?!_ He's gonna be sneaky and said I'd beat him tomorrow, not on the last day of camp when the tournament's gonna be held!"

Erasa sighed, shaking her head. "Sharrrrpyyy, you can always just hunt him down and kick his ass tomorrow when the counselors aren't looking!"

Pausing, Sharpener blinked, then grinned widely. "Hey, babe, you're right!" Sitting again, he turned back to Erasa, a bored look on his face again. "So, what's so important about it being moved then?"

"Well, think. We were going to do the whole Gohan and Videl, together forever thing. But we can't do it tomorrow, now can we?"

"You're right, we can't."

"Soooo, I figured that... uhh, we make up a plan tomorrow night on what to do, since we have no idea on what we're doing tomorrow night because it's Surprise Night! Who's with me!"

Sharpener rolled his eyes. "Hon, seriously. You really think that's gonna work? We just gotta find out what we're doing tomorrow night. Geez, not like it's gonna be all that hard."

The blonde-haired girl cast an odd look at her boyfriend, then brightened. "You know what, I never thought of that! ... Wait, how we gonna just find this stuff out? The counselors won't tell us, they'll just say," She stopped, mimicking the voice of Rob in a high, whinny voice; "'The whole point to Surprise Night is to surprise you kiddies! Just sit back and enjoy the fun, little dudes!'"

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Sharpener pulled his chair up closer to Erasa's. "Look," he whispered, after shooting a cautious glance around the room. "All we gotta do is go undercover, you know? Secret agent, double-0 seven!" He stood, a self-confident, 'suave' look on his face. "The name's Pencil. Sharpener Pencil."

"Oh, right! I get it! Great idea, Sharpener!"

"You betcha' that's a great idea," Sharpener smirked as he sat back down. "It's a great idea 'cause I made it up."

After washing his hair once, letting it air dry, then washing it again, and blow-drying it, Rob was done with the grooming; well, grooming his hair at least.

Flashing a self-confident smirk, he ran a comb through his hair as he reached for his razor and shaving cream. After all, he had to look his best for Surprise Night. That was when he was going to get some ass, after all.

"It's perfect. Surprise Night, we have Surprise activities," he began, speaking lowly to himself. "Of course, I pick it. And it's a two-person individual hike. Perfect. Especially since the team's of two won't work, since there is an odd number of students. The solution to solving that problem is obvious." A white-toothed grin shining behind white foam, Rob nodded once. "Me and Videl. Alone. Her little friends will have to pair up with some other brats."

Turning, he wiped the shaving cream off his face, then glanced back at the mirror, shooting a dazzling smile at his reflection. "Perfect. Absolutely perfect."

**To be continued...**


	5. Too Close For Comfort

Field Trip To Camp Hercule

**Field Trip To Camp Hercule**

--

**Previous chapter...**

--

"It's perfect. Surprise Night, we have Surprise activities," he began, speaking lowly to himself. "Of course, I pick it. And it's a two-person individual hike. Perfect. Especially since the team's of two won't work, since there is an odd number of students. The solution to solving that problem is obvious." A white-toothed grin shining behind white foam, Rob nodded once. "Me and Videl. Alone. Her little friends will have to pair up with some other brats."

Turning, he wiped the shaving cream off his face, then glanced back at the mirror, shooting a dazzling smile at his reflection. "Perfect. Absolutely perfect."

--

_Too Close for Comfort_

--

Gohan slowly flew behind Videl, not wanting to know what she would do if he accidentally kicked dirt into her shoe. Glancing once to the girl in front of him, he frowned, scratching his head. She sure changed her mind about the whole escourtment thing darn quick. For a second, he thought he was in for it.

_Maybe she just wants some company for the walk back..._

Mentally shrugging, he sighed, speeding up his flight to catch up with Videl, who'd managed to get a short distance ahead of him.

_I wonder what she's thinkin' right now._

Videl watched the teenage superhero flying beside her out of the corner of her eye, and flashed a self-satisfied smirk. He was so oblivious, she almost felt bad for taking advantage of it. Key word, 'almost'. She was finally going to know the truth about Son Gohan, whether he was the hero himself or was just another ditcher, who just conveniently decided to leave class right when she got called to help stop a crime. If it wasn't him, that'd be another suspect off her check-list on possible alter-egos for Saiyaman; anything that brought her closer to the truth was a good thing. A damn good thing.

_Since he's here, might as well make conversation._

"So, how much training did it take for you to be able to fight like you do?" she spoke in a slightly mocking tone.

"Well, it took years of practice, and thanks to my dad, I learned the easier stuff when I was really young..." Gohan began, unaware to Videl's amused look.

_Did I mention he's also gullible?_

"--if I didn't have my dad around, chances are my flying skills would be pretty cruddy, and I wouldn't be able to go Supe--Uhm, 'Gold'."

"Heh, okaaay, buddy," Videl chuckled, shaking her head. She had to admit; his gullible-ness was pretty cute sometimes. Reminded her a lot of a certain spiky-haired guy she knew.

Grinning, Gohan quickly landed on the ground beside Videl, deciding to walk the rest of the way. After all, it was only a few minutes away. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he strolled casually next to her, a goofy smile on his face.

Videl arched an eyebrow, a slight smirk crossing over her features as she sighed, placing her hands behind her head as she wandered in the direction of the cabin. Man, was this guy in for it or what! Even if he wasn't Gohan, she could completely corner him and whack the truth out of him. After all, when he was in nice-mode, he was pretty easy to manipulate. Shouldn't be too much harder to get some truth out of him.

Within seconds, they were at the cabin door. Turning, Videl leaned against the door, a coy smile on her face as she glanced up at Saiyaman, whose hands remained loosely in his pockets. The hero was still oblivious as he whistled, looking around before his gaze settled back on the girl before him.

"Alright, Miss Videl, it was a pleasure to esco--"

"Wait, wait." Holding up a hand to silence the teen, she leaned back against the door as she twisted her other hand around the door knob. "I insist that you come inside. Really."

_What...?_ Blinking, the hero nodded dumbly and took several steps inside before pausing. _Why does she want me to come inside?_

Before he could protest, the door closed silently behind him, the lock clicking to signify he was trapped. Shooting a look around the room nervously, Saiyaman took a cautious step back again, away from the triumphantly-smiling Videl. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead as he pulled away, the girl advancing on him, when she stopped, a supposedly confused look spreading over her innocent face.

"What? I just wanted you to meet my roommates!"

"Oh, alrighty then." Relaxing, Gohan followed Videl into the kitchen, then towards the family room, where he could already hear Sharpener and Erasa arguing.

"--No, Sharpener, that's enough television!...No, no! Who CARES if it's free porn, you perverted man whore!"

"But Erasaaaaa--"

**SLAP**

"Oh, Dende! My nose!"

Gohan suppressed a chuckle as Videl hesitated before the room, turning to force an apologetic smile at him.

"Excuse me," she muttered through gritted teeth as she stomped into the room.

A rapid sound of thwacks issued from the room adjacent to the one Gohan was standing in, along with several muffled curses. Running a nervous hand over his hair before letting it rest behind his neck, the teen let out a soft breath of air.

_Videl doesn't think I'm Gohan, thank Kami. She just wants me to meet her roommates, and that's just Sharpener, Erasa and..._

His mind froze as a wave of panic rippled over his body. Videl had three, not two, roommates--and his alter ego was one of them! That sneaky Satan was trying to pull one on him, he just knew it, he _knew _it; he didn't know how he knew it, but he did. Snapping his fingers as he growled deeply in his throat, he resisted the urge to punch the wall in his frustrations.

"Saiyaman? It's... safe, to come in now."

_How am I gonna get out of this one?_ Gulping nervously, the hero slowly stumbled into the room, greeted by the surprised faces of Erasa and Sharpener.

"Sh-she actually brought him home?" the blonde teen stuttered as he gaped in surprise at the figure before him, who was attempting to blend in with the carpet.

"Wow! I didn't know he looked so--" Erasa was cut short when Sharpener shot a glare at her, making it apparent that he didn't want jealousy to become an issue. "Uh, so, so--so hero-y!"

Gulping, Saiyaman managed a weak laugh as he waved. "Hey, guys, nice to meet you..."

A wide grin spread over Videl's face as she believed she was closer to having her suspicions confirmed. "Erasa, Sharpener, do you know where Gohan is? I know he would just _hate_ to miss a chance of meeting," she spun, locking eyes with Saiyaman, "the Great Saiyaman himself."

_Oh, no, panic! ... Yes, okay, currently panicking!_ He had to think of something, and he had to think of it fast.

Saiyaman placed the palm of his hand over his mouth as he pretended to yawn, instead making a ringing sound. "Oh no, Videl!"

Confusion spread over Videl's expression. "What?"

Snabbing up her cell phone with a hand, Gohan seemingly flipped it open. "What? A robbery? I'll be right there! Videl needs time off, anyways." Dropping the phone, Gohan waved his arms frantically. "Oh man, what bad luck! I gotta go; I guess I can't meet this Gohan friend of yours!"

"But I--"

"See ya, Miss Videl, and don't hold up!" Sprinting from the room, Gohan grabbed a window and yanked it open, leaping from its confines to jet out into the air.

Running to the window, Videl peered out of it then cursed. He had gotten away from her again, and she was sure that it was no coincidence!

Her face curled into a scowl as she plopped down on the couch, pouting, oblivious to Erasa and Sharpener's bewildered stares.

_Saiyaman... I will find out who you are, I promise! You can't run forever!_

Drawing to a cautious stop, Gohan turned in midair, looking back towards the small Cabin; Cabin #7 to be exact. Raising a hand, he wiped a bead of sweat away from his face as he forced his pounding heart to slow, a relieved gasp issuing from his throat.

"My…. My gosh…" He fell silent, shaking his head slowly. _That was too close… Too close for comfort._

Letting his eyelids drop, he breathed in a deep gulp of air once more, relishing in the fact that he was still alive and kicking. He thought for sure that Videl was going to pursue after him; when she didn't, his relief and surprise was enough to make him scream.

"Videl, please, don't _ever_ do that again! My heart can't take the stress."

_Too bad I can't say that to her in real life. Too bad she's gonna keep trying either way._

Snapping his fingers irritably, he shot one last glance to the Cabin packed in between several other buildings before rolling his eyes and spinning neatly, making a dive for a clump of trees. Time to go play Gohan again, and show up and act innocent.

Rob tossed his leopard-print towel to the side, revealing a very high-class, incredibly flashy version of the Camp shirt. Or, at least that's what he considered his addition to the piece of clothing to be – in reality, he had only added several scribbles of stars to circle his name, along with a smiley face in the 'o' in 'Rob'.

Turning his head to the left, he looked in the mirror. _My God, I'm beautiful._

Raising a hand, he blew out some hot air onto his knuckle and polished it against his shirt before turning on the heel of his booted shoe to walk out of the Cabin. A confident stride replaced his rapid steps as he headed for the Main Hall, ready to make another heart-warming speech in preparation for first, lunch, then the activities of Surprise Night, which would be followed by a late dinner. Pausing momentarily, he gazed once again at his reflection in a window.

_Yes… I'm the King of the Camp._

"What do you _mean_ you were out checking out the Camp, Gohan?"

Videl grabbed the nearest object available, which was a lamp, and flung it furiously at the poor Saiyan's head. Letting loose a terrified yelp he ducked under the projectile, his head snapping back up after avoiding what was sure to be a painful collision.

"Videl! Stop i--_Frickin' ow!_"

Stumbling back after getting hit over the head with one of the several huge text books he had brought to Camp, he gasped, seeing spots for several seconds before his vision cleared; his first sight was that of Videl making a dive at him.

"_No!!_"

Gohan held up his hands to protect his face as he tried to run backwards – and ended up tripping over a footrest to crash onto the floor, Videl soon following to land on top of him, Gohan grunting as she knocked the air out of his chest.

Sitting up as she lightly shook her head to shake the hair away from her eyes, Videl grabbed onto the front of Gohan's shirt to yank him forward, leaning down to level her eyes with his. A deep growl emitted from her throat as Gohan whimpered helplessly, arms flailing behind him as he tried to draw away from her.

"Look, _Son Gohan_…" she began, eyes narrowing dangerously. "I don't believe you. You did say that you were out checking the Camp out, didn't you, _Gohan?_"

He blinked once, fearfully, and then nodded.

"Now, is that true, _Gohan?_ Is it?"

Gulping, he hesitated, before closing his partly open mouth as he nodded again.

A scowl made itself apparent on Videl's face.

"Wrong answer!"

Raising a fist, she was about to punch him – hard – in the chest, but paused as he looked up at her, eyes wide. Blinking, she quirked an eyebrow at him skeptically.

_If he's trying to pull the sad puppy-dog look…_

Gohan, instead, was having other thoughts.

_Oh, crap… What's up with this? Saiyan side, back off! You're only supposed to come around when I'm Super…_

Growling lowly, he squeezed his eyes shut as his fists slowly clenched together, entire body tense as he muttered under his breath.

"Not good…"

Letting her hand drop to rest against Gohan's chest, Videl leaned forward, now confused. "What'd you say?"

First one eyelid rose, then the other, as Gohan gazed up at the girl with an aqua-marine eye. Videl drew in a cautious breath, trying to hide any signs of surprise.

_Aqua eyes? B-but… He has black eyes… Colored contacts?_

"Gohan? What's goin—"

A hand snapped forward to slip under Videl's legs as the other raised to wrap around her waist as Gohan drew up smoothly, easily lifting Videl off his chest and holding her to him at the same time. Videl gasped as she automatically reached forward to place both arms around Gohan's neck, staring wide-eyed at the teen.

_What in the heck?_

"Gohan!"

Tilting his head slightly, Gohan looked to Videl, an amused look flitting across his face before his expression returned to that of a smirk, his eyes making it obvious that he wasn't planning on listening to a thing she said.

"You said something?"

"Well… now I am… Put me down _now!_"

"Why should I?"

Videl snorted, narrowing her eyes as she raised a hand to punch Gohan roughly in the shoulder, even though she was inwardly shocked. Since when had Gohan refused to do something she'd commanded? And… why did the whole situation seem so familiar?

Pausing, the spiky-haired teen blinked once, before frowning, a crease appearing on his brow. Shaking his head rapidly from side to side he slowly released Videl, letting her slide out of his grip to land steadily on the ground as he reached up, knuckles rubbing his closed eyes, coughing once.

Stopping, Gohan let both eyes pop open, fortunately restored to their natural onyx-black color.

"Um… Sorry, Videl. I think I was out of it…"

Videl looked up to Gohan from her place on the floor, barely contained surprise written all over her face. Cocking her head to the side, she examined her fellow roommate for several seconds before pulling herself to her feet, raising a hand to lightly rest it against Gohan's chest before it clenched into a fist.

_Out of it? Out of it my ass. He just went psycho on me._

"Yeah, sure, Gohan. Next time, snap out of it before even saying anything, alright?" she growled, pressing her fist more forcefully against his body for effect, all the while thinking; _Stupid head._

Managing a weak smile which was accompanied by an uneasy laugh, Gohan nodded. "Yeah, okay. It won't happen again…. It really won't."

After the scuffle between Gohan and Videl had ended, the pair had headed out to the Main Hall to be served another dish of Surprise Dinner (it was a purple meatloaf) that was meant to follow the theme of Surprise Night. Most of the students skipped the meal, save Gohan, who braved the possible dangers of catching a fatal disease due to food poisoning.

Erasa and Sharpener stared wide-eyed at Gohan, who was in the process of shoving the meat into his mouth with a fork while the other held the plate to his mouth. Videl, deciding that it was too disgusting of a spectacle to watch, was looking the other way as she blatantly rolled her eyes.

"Oh, my gosh… Is he really eating that crap?"

"Yeah, babe, he is. Don't hafta watch, ya know. Maybe it's too, like, intense for your girl eyes, right?" Sharpener blinked as Erasa scowled at him, then shook his head once in panic, stuttering. "U-uh, that's not what I meant, hon! I meant, uhm… You see, it could be too… uh…" He stopped, scratching his head as his brow furrowed in thought.

Heaving a sigh of forced patience, Erasa lightly patted her boyfriend on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Sharpy. You're little boy-brain can't handle all the 'thinking stress'," she finished as she smirked mischievously.

"Oh, thanks!"

Gohan paused only momentarily in his attack of the meatloaf to look up at Erasa, grinning goofily, before resuming.

Within several minutes, the food was gone. Gohan was prepared to go back for more, but the horrified looks of his companions stopped him. Letting his plate drop before him, the Saiyan warily scratched the back of his neck as he laughed uneasily, settling back down in his seat.

"Um, oops… Hey, isn't it scary what hunger can do to a guy?"

Videl rolled her eyes once more. "Sure, Gohan, sure. Whatever you say."

_Oh, rats… I forgot! She's already suspicious about my get-up of Saiyaman, isn't she?_

Gohan looked once to Videl, both eyebrows quirked in confusion. She snapped her head back to glare at him, eyes narrowing evilly as the demi-Saiyan gulped, then looked away.

_Yep. She's suspicious, alright._

It was then that Rob took his place on the podium, cleared his throat as he tapped on the microphone, and then spoke.

"Hello, kids!—" he stopped as the microphone squealed ear-piercingly. The classes all yelled irritably in response, several students hitting the floor as they squirmed, covering their ears with both hands. "Um, wait…" Several thumps were heard from the stage as the podium was shifted around, the microphone-stand following suit. Within minutes, the problem was supposedly fixed. "Okay, now ho--" The mix squealed again, and, just as before, another screech of complaint was heard from the student-body. "Okay, fine! I won't use the mic! Jeeeesuh'!"

Stepping away from the stand to stand on the edge of the stage, the Camp Counselor cleared his throat once more, and yelled loudly, his voice echoing about the room. "Students from Orange Star High! I know you've just been waiting for this moment, just to have some real fun! Now, I know you think this might sound silly, but, Surprise Night is one of the best elements of this camp, Camp Hercule!"

Erasa sniggered into her hand as she nudged Gohan with an elbow. "He says and every year, and every year he pauses and waits for our cheers in appreciation--hey, watch, he's doing the signature move!"

Rob raised both hands in the air, peace signs formed on his fingers as he twisted his upper body so he could scan the entire room. Grinning wildly, he waved both hands in the air frantically, his smile slowly fading as he realized no one was clapping.

"Uh, hm. You kids aren't too lively, are you?" He lowered his voice and added, crossly; "Damn lil' brats."

Slapping both hands over her mouth to keep from breaking out into pure laughter, Erasa kicked Gohan in the foot. "I told you! He stole that move from Richard Nixon, can't ya tell? He's destined to go down!"

Sighing as he dusted his hands off in front of him, Rob let his head droop. "Okay, well, maybe you don't think it's so great now, but…" He raised a finger in the air, then shook is accusingly. "You will like it, dang it! You will, you will, you will, you hear me?! You have to!"

The auditorium fell silent. Rob slowly brought his shaking finger to a stop, looking to the rows of students before him. Laughing nervously as several coughs were heard, he brought his hand back and shoved both deep into his pockets, taking on what he hoped to be a casual appearance.

"Uh… h-hey, you guys, loosen up! I was just joking, you know?"

A few smirks were exchanged among students as the counselors looked to each other then slowly began to laugh, seemingly taking on an air of complete amusement. After the short and piteous laughter came to a quiet, uncomfortable ending, Rob continued.

"Yes, well. As is custom, the true activities for the night won't be revealed until we get outside and are all set up. Okay? So let's get on out there, kids. Hey, don't get out of line! You two… stop that!"

The high-school adolescents were all bustled out of the building before being gathered once more in front of a roaring camp fire, the heat of the flames illuminating Rob's face; in Videl's eyes, he looked even more sinister than normal.

_Pretty freaky… _She thought once to herself, right as the Head Counselor began talking once more.

"Alright, I'm sure all of you are excited to know what we're doing tonight! Well, here goes, brace yourself kids; Night Hike!"

Completely out of character, all the boys whooped as the girls turned a considerable shade of white. Rob, taken aback by this reaction, laughed once as a round of claps issued around the circle from the males in the group.

Sharpener smirked as he looked to Erasa, loping an arm loosely around her shoulders. _For once, old Rob thought of somethin' good for once; nothin' better than a Night Hike with your fave gal._

"Yes, good! I see you do like it! Anyways. Everyone is going to pair up with one partner, and is going to stick with that person until the Night Hike session is over. Everyone will be allowed to take any trails as long as they stay within at least a mile radius. Ready? Partner up!"

_Oh Dende… why are you so cruel? _Gohan groaned into the palms of his hands as some… girl, whoever she was, hung excitedly onto his arm with an insanely strong grip. How in the world did this happen? Gohan slowly lifted his head from the confines of his hands, raising a finger. One, Sharpener had paired up with Erasa; _obviously._ That left Videl, and, naturally, he assumed she'd pair up with him. After all, she seemed to despise all the other guys and tolerated him and Sharpener alone. But, no; the fan-girl had gotten him first and dragged him painfully in the other direction as Rob walked to Videl. Why did he go to her? The answer was simple enough. Thanks to his Saiyan-hearing abilities, Gohan heard every word exchanged between them.

_Flashback to… A few seconds ago!_

"Hey, Videl."

Videl quirked an eyebrow in mock curiosity as she turned slightly, acknowledging Rob's presence with a brief nod. Why in the heck was he bugging her?

"I checked the numbers of the students and it seems that there's going to be an odd one out. I figured you wouldn't want to hike alone, so I'll probably hike with you. You know, for safety reasons, and so that you still can participate."

"Well, I…" Videl fell short as she shot a panicked look about her. Where in the heck was that doofus, Gohan? After all, she _was _planning to pair up with him since he was the only guy whose presence didn't push her to the brink of annoyance.

After several seconds of searching the site, she spotted him. Eyes widened briefly, before narrowing as she growled lowly in her throat. _That traitor._ He had paired up with one of those preppy girls who would do anything and everything to get a view of him without his shirt on!

_And I thought you weren't shallow enough to take advantage of that, Gohan,_ she thought darkly as she turned back to Rob, a false smile spread across her face. "I guess so. My first partner ended up taking someone else," she paused, her expression turning to that of ferocity for several seconds before she recovered, "and I could use a replacement, it seems."

Rob began to flash his usual cocky grin before he stopped himself, almost slapping his forehead in the process. _Wait, wait! Let's try going for the sensitive, shy guy for now. We can bring out the big guns when we're alone._ An artificially relieved smile crossing over his features, Rob nodded once. "O-oh, okay! That's great, Videl…" He ended his brief comment with what he hoped was a shy smile, and he even bowed his head a little. As he recalled, it was exactly what Gohan would do. Wasn't it? Of course it was. He wasn't only the most sexy, eligible bachelor out there, but he was also what he considered the greatest actor to grace Camp Hercule with his presence. "I guess we should get a-hikin', then!"

Videl nodded curtly, before looking to the trails beyond. "Right."

_End of Flashback_

Made 'nuff sense, he supposed. Even though everything seemingly worked out, Gohan felt pretty bad. What if that first partner that Videl was talking about was him? _I hope that she knows I didn't mean to get picked by someone else…_

And, currently, Gohan was wandering in the pitch black darkness with a girl hanging off his side, who shrieked at every single, tiny, barely audible sound.

"Oh my _God!_ Gohan! There's a bear in the woods… Would you save me from it if it was a bear?"

The Saiyan mumbled in reply.

"Oh, Gohan, you're so sweet! You'd risk your life just for me!"

Once again, Gohan grumbled in response.

"We're going to be _such _a cute couple!"

_Aw, geez. I've had enough. _Grabbing at his shirt collar, Gohan slowly pried himself loose from the girl's hold. "Um, um… um… Hey, you know that Josh Hartnett guy?"

"Like, oh my gosh! Where is he!"

"There!" Gohan pointed in the direction back to the camp fire as the girl ran with incredible speed away from him, the sounds of bushes being knocked aside as her footsteps slowly disappeared into the distance being music to the Saiyan's ears. Letting out a sigh of relief, Gohan dropped to his knees and hugged a nearby shrub. "Freeeee…" he muttered, before getting back to his feet and wandering off in another direction. Maybe he could find Videl and could take Rob's place.

Meanwhile, Videl was having what she considered being the most boring time in her life. _And that's including all the times I had to wait for my dad to get his freakin' hair done, which, let me remind myself, took about five hours each, _she added irritably. Instead of waiting and watching her dad as he got his hair put up in an afro, she was stuck listening to Rob's supposedly fascinating and captivating stories of his bravery and valor.

"…that's how I saved the Camp for the… what is it? Fifteenth time? Hey, I know, let's count how many times I was a hero together! Ready? Okay! One, the flood, two, the earthquake--hey, you're not counting with me! Come on, don't be shy!"

Videl swore then and there that never again would she allow Rob to accompany her on anything, alone. Never, ever again. Not unless she wanted to die from extreme boredom.

Suddenly she paused, blinking. He had stopped talking! Her first thought was that it was a relief, but then a second came to her; _Why?_ Last time she checked, the idiot wouldn't shut up unless he was forced to, or… He had something else on her mind.

It was right at this moment when Rob decided to bust out with a witty, sexy and appealing remark; "Baby got _back!_"

Gohan was having the 'time of his life'; he was debating with himself on whether he should go look for either Sharpener, Erasa or Videl.

"I don't think Sharpener and Erasa would want to be disturbed…" he muttered under his scuffled the ground with his feet. "Videl might jump all over me if I go bug her now, too. She might be having fun with that guy…"

Without warning, a pang of regret and jealousy shot through Gohan's mind. He narrowed his eyes briefly as they glowed a light aqua, before shaking his head to clear his thoughts again. _What was that from?_ Since when would he ever be jealous of Rob?

Just then, he felt a ki spike in the distance, before wavering as it plunged down once more. Pausing as a confused expression ran over his face, Gohan tilted his head to the side as if to 'hear' the energy more easily. Now, it had stopped its downward descent and was erratically bouncing off the charts.

"Guess there is something to do out here," Gohan mumbled as he tapped the red button on his wrist-watch, his Saiyaman outfit immediately appearing over his body. He was about to rush head-long to where the ki was and what it was doing, when he hesitated. "Wait… I recognize that ki from somewhere…" Sudden realization hit him. "Videl!"

All past-thoughts forgotten, Gohan sprinted to a clearing before leaping into the sky, where he continued his frantic flight.

Once he came to the destination of the source of ki, he dropped from the air, landing silently on the dirt ground. Raising his head slightly as he scanned the clearing before him, he gasped, then paused, eyes wide.

_What in the name of Dende…?_

Videl was in the process of practically broiling, almost to the point that Gohan thought steam would pour out of her ears. Rob was nonchalantly leaning against a tree with an elbow as he babbled on, a confident, while somehow sinister smile gracing his features.

Gohan's ears perked a bit as he caught some of the conversation.

"…And do you know why you got back, baby?! Because you're one seeexxxxxay ladaaay! Ooh, I like big butts and I cannot lie…"

Gohan nearly toppled over. For one, Videl did _not_ have a big butt last time he checked – not that he was checking to begin with… cough… - and, Rob was oblivious to the evil glares that Videl was shooting in his direction. Her patience was obviously beginning to wear as she raised a fist, rolling back a sleeve as she prepared to punch out his lights while Rob was lost in the sound of music.

_Okay, well, maybe he deserves it, but still!_ Gohan took the winding up of Videl's punch as his cue to enter, and he sprinted into the clearing, grabbing Videl gently by the waist as he drew her back, right as her punch went sailing towards Rob's nose.

"H-hey, what, hey!!" Videl squirmed in Gohan's grasp, infuriated, as Rob shook out of his trance.

The Camp Counselor, staring at the Great Saiyaman (who was in the process of restraining who he believed was his fiancée-to-be) with a bewildered expression, slowly understanding that his territory was being trampled on. Raising a hand, he shook a finger accusingly in Gohan's direction.

"Hey, you! Get your hands off my woman!"

"_I'm not your woman!_" Videl screamed in response, arms flailing as she attempted to leap from Gohan's arms, intent being to pummel Rob mercilessly.

"Yeah, punk, that's what I thought! Get your dirty, icky, cotton-pickin' hands offa' her, y'hear!"

Gohan nearly gagged with disgust, and barely disguised amusement. Problem was, if he laughed, Videl would kill him. That wouldn't help things a bit, considering she already was out to get him.

Videl was about to respond when the Great Saiyaman made what was probably the best decision at the time-being; without a word, he leapt into the air and jetted off, still holding Videl securely in his arms.

Rob blinked as he flew from sight, then ran a few feet as he flung up his hands, shaking his fists. "You may have won this battle, but you have yet to win the war, you punk!"

Gohan, meanwhile, had to deal with the rants and raves of Videl.

"Oh, Kami! Why'd you freakin' do that? I could've kicked his stupid ass! Okay, let me down this instant, Mr. Superhero, or I'll kick _your _ass!"

The Saiyan attempted to surpress a smile, and failed miserably. The corner of her mouth twitching dangerously, Videl gazed up at Gohan, infuriation clearly visible in her glare.

_Oh okay, he thinks this is funny, does he? Well, does he think __**this **__is funny?!_

Grabbing hold of Gohan's head, Videl suddenly yanked it to the side, nearly sliding the teen's helmet from his face. Gasping, Gohan grabbed for the helmet and, while distracted, plummeted to the ground as he held Videl with one arm. Eyes wide in shock at the response, the girl let out a small squeak as the ground seemed all-too near, when Gohan realized what the heck was going on.

"Ack – Oops!" Screeching to a stop mid-flight, Gohan slowly drifted the remaining two feet down from the air to land carefully on the ground. Videl's eyes were squeezed shut – she'd decided that she'd rather not see her death if it came anytime soon. Scratching the back of his head in mild confusion, Gohan poked her shoulder with a finger as she continued to clutch his neck with breath-taking strength.

"Um… Videl, we're okay now."

Slowly, letting first one eye pop open, then the other, Videl blinked. She wasn't dead! For that matter, Saiyaman wasn't either. She remained relieved of the narrow escape of death's clutches, before returning to her very pissed off mood. Sliding out of Gohan's grip, she turned and shoved him roughly in the chest.

"You jerk! I can't believe you did that!"

Gohan was now incredibly confused. He just saved her life, didn't he? But, wait, if he never flew off with her, then he would've never had to save her life… "W-what? What'd I do?"

"You stopped me from beating down that idiot, stupid! Geez, what is it with guys these days?!" Videl began to punch Gohan repeatedly in the chest, while still yelling her complaints. "First, you stop me from punching him, then, you almost kill me! What," One punch; "is," another punch; "wrong," a kick in the shin for good measurement; "with," a punch _and_ kick combination; "_you!_" At this, she renewed her attack so vigorously that she managed to tackle him to the ground.

"Eep!" Toppling over, the teenage Saiyan struggled to regain his balance but soon found it useless; Videl was too intent on punching the crud out of him. "Videl, come on! Get off – Hey!"

Leaning down so that she was eye-to-eye with Saiyaman, Videl's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"How is it possible that you can torture me not only when I'm trying to do my job, but also when I'm at Camp, huh?!"

_Uh, oh. This is not good._ Gohan let out a nervous laugh, falling silent afterwards.

The corner of Videl's mouth twitched slightly.

"Spit it out, Superman."

"B-but, I'm not Superman, I'm Saiya--"

"You know what I mean!" she snapped in response.

Gulping, the teenage adolescent slowly ran over his possible demise. _She could try to choke me… Okay, wait, that won't work, I don't think she has a high enough power level. I guess she could end up stealing my food sources or somethin' if she keeps me from going anywhere…_ That thought was enough to frighten Gohan out of his wits.

"Y-you're not gonna take away my food, are you?!" he stammered, eyes wide in horror.

"Well, why would I do…" Videl's voice slowly faded off as she saw a blatantly obvious opportunity, waiting right in front of her nose for her to take it. An evil smirk slowly formed on Videl's lips as she smirked, and chuckled lowly under her breath. "Why would I take away your food, when I could just _starve_ you to death?"

"Dende!" Gohan gasped, repeatedly gulping as he tried to clear his senses. _Starve_ him? That was cruel! "V-Videl, you don't mean that, do you?!" he managed to choke out, before falling into shock at her response;

"Naturally."

Videl flashed an evil grin as she saw the teen before her keel over, landing flat on his back as he gasped frantically for air. Apparently, she'd hit a weak spot. _Come on, kiddo. Make an offer I can't refuse, make some suggestion for why I shouldn't starve you--_

"Uh… V--Miss Videl? What do I have to do to keep you from…" Gohan gulped once more, "starving me?"

_Oh, so he wants me to make the offer, huh? Even better._

"Take off that stupid helmet of yours."

"N-no!"

"Fine then. No deal it is. You may now say goodbye to the food, _forever--_-"

"Videl!" A drop of sweat ran down Gohan's forehead. He still hadn't registered that she couldn't keep him from food even if she wanted to. "You can't do that! It's just not right!"

"How's it not right, buddy? What is it with guys and food--" Videl paused. There was only one other guy she knew that took food that seriously; that other guy just happened to be Gohan… Videl's smirk deepened as she added the new raw-evidence to her 'files' of information.

Gohan began to panic even more than before as he saw the evil grin appear on Videl's face. _Oh, Dende! What is she thinking now?!_

"Well, Saiyaman. This is going to be my only offer. You have to take off that helmet and tell me who you are if you ever want to see food again, much less eat it."

"But I said…" Gohan paused as an idea popped into his head.He had to admit, it was cheap, but then again it wasn't like Videl wasn't being cheap either. Besides, it was his only non-violent way out. "…Okay. Okay, deal."

Videl's eyes widened as she flashed a wide grin. "Really?! Awesome!" She sat up and crossed her arms over her chest, while still straddling Gohan's waist. "So? Go 'head and take off the helmet."

Gohan's evil Saiyan-side that came complete with sarcastic and smart-ass remarks suddenly made itself apparent as he reached forward, gently plucking Videl off of him as he stood to his full-height. "Hey, you never said when I had to take it off!" Saluting, he jumped into the air and flew full-throttle back in the direction of the Camp as Videl remained frozen in shock, staring after his rapidly disappearing form.

Shaking out of her momentary confusion, Videl let out a scream in frustration. "_That wasn't fair!!_"

Gohan couldn't help but smile as Videl's complaint reached his ears, even though he had reached Cabin #7 already. Slowly dropping from his flight to gently slide through the window, he tapped the button on his wrist-watch before heading for the separate rooms. He let out a soft laugh as he closed the bedroom door behind him, hopping into bed without even changing.

"I'm sorry I had to do that, Videl. But you'd understand why I can't tell you if you knew…"

Letting out a sigh, the son of the third-class Saiyan Goku reached over and flicked off the lamp by his bed, before falling into a deep sleep.

Erasa and Sharpener were actually _not_ doing anything that required a rating above PG-14, but instead, were talking about their new 'project'.

"I betcha' Videl and Gohan are going to get together tonight. After all, they did partner up, didn't they?"

Sharpener smirked slightly as he casually examined his nails. "Yeah, babe. Who else would they pair up with? Videl can't stand everyone else, and Gohan doesn't go for his groupies. It all makes sense."

Erasa giggled into the palm of her hand. "Hey, you're right! But how do we know for sure that they did anything besides walk around in silence?"

"Hon." Sharpener rolled his eyes. "What do you think they're going to do? You saw the way Gohan looked at her when she had a wet shirt; which, of course, was accidental…" He faded off as he laughed.

The blonde-haired teen at his side blinked once, then nodded. "Oh, right! I forgot." She couldn't help but grin after the statement. _Videl and Gohan together? That'd be so adorable! _She immediately began making plans for what she'd be wearing to their wedding.

Sharpener, on the other hand, was thinking about the possibilities with two couples in a cabin for several more days. _Well, if they do go out, out goes the rule of one all-boys room and another all-girls room! Erasa, baby, you're gonna be seeing me every night._ Smirking in content, he continued strolling down the trail.

Suddenly, a loud ringing sounded in the distance. Raising his head, Sharpener muttered crossly under his breath. The Night Hike was already over, and they didn't get to do anything fun! After all, Erasa had wanted to talk about Gohan and Videl the entire time, and Sharpener couldn't begrudge his favorite girl of the pleasure of hooking up her two friends.

Erasa raised her head at the noise and turned, heading back down the path towards the Camp. "Hey, Sharpy! C'mon, the Hike's over!"

Still grumbling irritably, Sharpener nodded in response. "Okay, Erasa. I'll be right there." Pausing to glare up into the sky, he hmphed. _Gohan, you better pull some moves soon! _

Rob trudged into his personal Cabin, slamming the door behind him. After dismissing the students to their Cabins, and giving a brief lecture on how most superhero's were fake adolescent punks that had no intention of protecting the city, while he, on the other hand, fully believed in the education of Satan City's 'future adults', he had stomped off to his room to pout. And he had every reason to do so, in his opinion.

Videl was taken from his very arms by that idiotic son of a gun Saiyaman! She was on the verge of kissing him, he knew it – he had her wrapped around his finger like a piece of duct tape! So tightly, in fact, that his finger was losing its blood circulation! How was it possible that he could let that stupid jealous fool take away his future bride?

He grabbed hold of a book and started to repeatedly hit his bed-post with it.

"Arrrgh! My plans, foiled! Foiled!"

He continued to attempt to mutilate the book before he dropped it, panting at the exertion of energy. "That's what I'm gonna do to _that_ Super-freak once I get my hands at him!" he declared.

Dropping to sit on the ground, he cradled his head in his hands. He'd have to think up another plan to get the girl. Really, he would, and it was really working his brain cells. What was coming up next anyways? Didn't he have some other project that proved he had almost unlimited opportunities to make Videl his? Good Kami, he must've had _something _he could do.

Wait, wasn't the decision for the Baking Contest coming up, along with the swimming? Rob's eyes lit up. Videl wouldn't be able to resist seeing him in a swimming suit!

Stumbling to his feet, he grinned and posed in front of the mirror, flexing his barely visible biceps. "I'mma make her mine, this time!"

Videl found herself storming into the Cabin. Growling lowly under her breath she took a seat at the table and snabbed up a package of crackers, neatly opening it to swipe out a cracker. She looked at it, then tossed it back into the package with a mumble of distaste. Right now, any reminder of food was enough to piss her off even more.

That stupid sneaky superhero had tricked her! Somehow, he had managed to do so and had gotten himself out of the tight spot. Sure, he'd have to tell her who he was eventually, but she doubted he'd been notifying her anytime soon.

_I can't believe I let him get away with that. So close!_

It was then that Erasa and Sharpener entered the room, still devising other possible ways to get the reluctant pair together.

"I think it'd be a good idea if…" Erasa paused mid-sentence, looking at Videl. Flashing a wide grin, she took a seat beside her long-time friend. "Hey! How did the hike with Gohan go?"

Videl, who now had her head resting on her arms on the table, mumbled quietly in response.

Sharpener pulled another chair up from the side, as Erasa's expression changed to that of confusion. "What? Couldn't hear you."

Once again, the daughter of Hercule grumbled inaudibly.

"Okay, Videl, you have to speak up--"

"Fine!" Videl grabbed Erasa's arm and dragged her off to the girl's room, leaving a bewildered Sharpener. Blinking, he slowly registered what had happened.

"H-hey… Girls?! I don't wanna be left out!"

The sound of a door slamming was his only response.

Running a hand over his hair, he shook his head. "Fine, maybe I will be left out. At least I have Gohan to talk to."

Meanwhile, Erasa was forced to take a seat as Videl grabbed hold of a pillow, nearly ripping it in two. "Gohan was with his groupie-girl. Didn't you know that?"

Erasa gasped before rolling her eyes. "What? That dumbass! I didn't know he was that shallow."

Videl nodded once in agreement. "Yeah."

"So, who were you stuck with? It couldn't have been that bad. Mark? Or maybe, Josh?"

Groaning, the girl smacked herself upside the head with the pillow. "Worse."

"It couldn't have been that bad…"

"Rob."

Erasa paled several shades of white, nearly gagging. _Rob?! That… that… grr! He's messing up all our plans! _"Videl, you can't be serious."

Videl slowly raised her head, before collapsing back to lie on her bed. "You think I don't wish I was joking? That idiot pretty much screwed up the night for me, and to make it worse, I couldn't even kick his ass in payback."

"You couldn't? That guy can actually _fight?!_"

She shook her head. "'Course not. Saiyaman just chose that moment to show up out of nowhere and kept me from doing anything to him."

"Oh, so what'd you do then?"

Drawing out a sigh, Videl sat up, facing Erasa. Quirking an eyebrow, she crossed her arms over her chest. "This is gonna take awhile to explain…"

"W…wha?"

Gohan slowly blinked his sleep-clouded eyes, trying to clear his vision. Suddenly, he found himself blinded by the light from the window and he grumbled, sliding off his bed to shuffle to the drapes, drawing them closed. He sighed, rubbing his knuckles against his eyes before looking around the room.

Last night had been a version of a nightmare gone wrong. At first, it looked like he was neck-deep in trouble, but he somehow managed to turn things the other way. Tricking Videl had been a cheap shot, he had to admit, but that was also what Saiyans were known for. He had an excuse, didn't he? Sure he did.

From the looks of it, Sharpener had had a rough night. The teen was sprawled out across the bed, snoring loudly as his hair stuck out at odd angles. Chuckling, Gohan trudged towards the kitchen. Once the blonde-haired jock woke up, he'd be horrified at the look of his morning-hair.

_I wonder how Videl's holding up… _He didn't have long to think as he entered the small kitchenette. Already, Videl and Erasa were up. Yawning, he took a seat at the table before glancing to them.

"Good morning. What's for breakfast?"

Both girls glared at him before Erasa snapped out a spatula from behind her back. "You can make your own breakfast, you ass!" She then flung the utensil in his direction.

Yelping, Gohan ducked under the projectile before raising his head, staring at the pair. "W-what'd I do?"

"You were a shallow jerk, that's what!" Videl retorted, before looking back to her newspaper.

"That's right, Gohan. Don't expect any food around this house until you shapen up!" Erasa added, smirking at the look of horror on Gohan's face.

"B-but… I can't cook!"

The two girls then decided he knew enough, and began to ignore him completely. The Saiyan sat helplessly at the table, stomach growling every few seconds to remind him of his dilemma. Letting out a sigh of defeat, Gohan soon found himself walking to the fridge. Tugging it open, he gaped at the sight – no already made food, just stuff you'd have to cook with! Oh, wait, there was also the entries for the Baking Contest. But if he ate them, oh, Dende – he didn't even want to think about the consequences.

Gohan slowly let the fridge slide shut. Glancing to Erasa and Videl sadly, he shook his head and shuffled out of the Cabin, softly closing the door behind him. Times like this, he'd have to resort to flying out to the city just to get any decent food.

Slowly jogging out of the clearing of Cabins to the underbrush, Gohan gazed back to scan the area for anyone who might possibly spot him. Seeing none, he tapped the red button on his wristwatch, allowing the light to briefly envelop him as his disguise appeared over his form. As he drew back to prepare taking flight, his stomach rumbled once more. Glancing down at it, he rubbed it warily.

"Just wait a little longer, I'm gonna get food now!"

Leaping into the air, he jetted off full-throttle towards the city.

"So, where's Gohan?"

Sharpener scratched the back of his head, staring suspiciously in Videl and Erasa's direction as he warily took on a look of mild confusion.

"He's probably off looking for food," Erasa snickered, as Sharpener raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think I want to know…"

His thoughts were interrupted as Rob began speaking. Already, all the classes had crowded into the Main Hall just to prepare for the swimming that would soon be coming up. Waving for silence, the Head Counselor slowly took his place at the podium.

"As you all know, today will be the day that we decide the winning of the contest which has made itself famous on Camp grounds. The Baking Contest!"

A small round of clapping issued, coming only from the parents and other counselors.

"Also, there will be swimming earlier in the day before the spectacular event that displays the cooking talents of our students takes place. I'm sure all of you remember last year, when things got a little out of hand…"

Laughing could be heard among the student body, as the crowd began to whisper and exchange comments. Rob glared at the students, silence eventually covering the crew.

"Yes, well. Let's not let it happen again this year, shall we? We don't need to get anymore calls from any parents, and we also don't need to see any more exposure than what we saw last year. That clear enough for you?"

Sharpener smirked and looked to Erasa. "Crystal clear," he muttered, his girlfriend remaining oblivious to his look.

"I'm sure you all understand. With that over with, you are dismissed to your Cabins to change! Meet back at the docks in thirty minutes!"

The students piled out of the Main Hall, heading for the Cabins, each knowing that chances are things would definitely be _different _than they were last year – in the exact opposite way that Rob had planned.

"Oh, come on, they have to have some type of fast-Japanese-food joint around here…" Gohan dropped from the air to land in the middle of the streets, narrowly missing a collusion with a car. Stumbling to the side, he dusted off his cape and rapidly scanned the streets for any sign of food.

"Come on, come on, come on… Hey! Cool!"

A sign loomed above him; _Japanese Food "We serve it the way you like it – Fast!"_

"Perfect."

A wide grin on his face, Gohan trotted to a nearby alley-way, quickly changing from his Saiyan outfit to his normal clothing, before running back into the restaurant. Who would've known that a Japanese Buffet would've been so close nearby?

His last thoughts before paying at the register and practically sprinting towards the food were quick; _I hope I can finish up before we do anything at Camp!_

**To be continued...**


	6. Swim Like A Manta Ray, Bite Like A Shark...

Field Trip To CampHercule

**Field Trip To CampHercule**

--

**Previous chapter…**

--

A sign loomed above him; _Japanese Food "We serve it the way you like it – Fast!"_

"Perfect."

A wide grin on his face, Gohan trotted to a nearby alley-way, quickly changing from his Saiyan outfit to his normal clothing, before running back into the restaurant. Who would've known that a Japanese Buffet would've been so close nearby?

His last thoughts before paying at the register and practically sprinting towards the food were quick; _I hope I can finish up before we do anything at Camp!_

--

_Swim Like a Manta Ray, Bite Like a Shark!_

--

"Someone tell me just… just _one more time_ why we have to do this bleepin' thing every year!" Videl, face scrunched up in disgust, stomped out of her room decked out in a bathrobe.

Erasa, following suit as she stepped out from behind Videl, grinned widely. "Videl! This is only one of the funnest parts of this Camp!" Flip-flops squeaking, she walked over to the TV room to plop down on the couch next to Sharpener, who was currently admiring his girlfriend in her brand-spankin'-new orange bikini, decorated with white cute flowery things. Actually, it wasn't really the bikini he was admiring, it was the body that was displayed so _well_ that was clothed in it!

"Yeah, it is. Just lighten up! It can't be that bad, now can it?" Sharpener spoke up, still ogling Erasa's swimsuit.

In a huff, the daughter of the infamous Satan himself took her place on the big comfy chair that was a reasonable distance away from the love-birds. Since Sharpener was obviously preoccupied, she figured he wouldn't mind her changing the channel from Pamela Anderson to the Satan News Daily (also commonly referred to as S.N.D.). Taking up the remote control, she flipped it to S.N.D., giving a small mental sigh of relief when Sharpener paid no attention. Normally he would've put up a huge fuss, and Erasa and Videl would have to unite their efforts to drag him to the ground, therefore pinning him effectively, while the other did the easy part.

"… _We interrupt our normally scheduled weather coverage to bring you exclusive news of a robbery which is taking place at the heart of Satan City; at Bank Hercule; Jenny Markins, are you there?"_

Erasa glanced up from the TW (Teenaged Women) magazine she had been previously flipping through to look to the TV, while, unsurprisingly, Sharpener remained oblivious to the fact that the TV was even on.

"_Yes, Steve! This is Jenny Markins bringing you exclusive coverage, live. Right in front of Champion Park, a robbery is taking place. Several con-men who had escaped from prison just recently have chosen Hercule Bank as their target, and are in the process of putting the bags of citizen's money into their unmarked, white truck, while the city's officers stand by watching from behind their vehicles."_

"If the cops are there, why aren't they doing anything about it?" Erasa queried, obviously confused.

"Incapable idiots," Videl muttered under her breath. She wasn't exactly in the mood to go save the stupid money, no sir. Then again, perhaps beating the men senseless would cheer her up.

"_Our officers are rendered helpless against these thugs, due to the fact that the criminals have taken an eight-year old hostage, who has been identified as Brianna Brown. If the police officers unleash their fire upon the criminals, they may retaliate with a volley of bullets of their own, that would be sure to not only hurt the hostage, but the innocent by-standers who are watching from a distance."_

Sharpener, finally realizing that Pamela Anderson was no longer gracing him with a view of her… Well, you know, blinked several times rapidly, before gasping. "Hey, you changed the channel…"

Erasa, in turn, began to roll up her magazine as her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Sharpener! How can you be so insensitive! There is some little adorable girl who's being held hostage and you're upset because that stupid lady is not available for you to gawk at anymore?!" she yelled, before running at her boyfriend while wielding the rolled-up TW.

Shrieking in a very girlish-like manner, Sharpener ran from the room as Erasa followed suit, leaving only Videl and the TV remaining.

Rolling her eyes, the raven-haired girl looked back to the television set, and was promptly exposed to something she'd never expected on hearing.

"_What? What's this? It looks like our heroic partner of Videlr, the Great Saiyaman, has appeared on the scene!"_

Gohan happily pranced out of the Japanese Buffet, licking the tips of his fingers before glancing back at the restaurant.

"I hope I gave them a big enough tip. I mean, even if they ran out of food, it was still good…" he trailed off as he shrugged, heading back down the alley-way to the street. He guessed that from there, he'd have a clear view and be able to take flight without crashing through anymore windows.

Whistling, he strolled out onto the side-walk; right as a bullet whizzed past his head. Pausing, he blinked once, then turned his head to where it came from.

"Hey, you!" A man, decked out entirely in black, waved a machine-gun in the air. "Get your ass back, kid! You hearin' me?" Laughing all the while, the man now fired another shot in his general direction.

Gohan now saw that he was standing relatively close to Hercule Bank. In front of him were rows upon rows of police cars, all with officers hiding behind them. To his right was even more cop cars, basically enclosing the area in a tight circle. And, to his left, was the thug and h is troope of men, along with a small girl… Hey, wait. A small _girl?!_

Quirking an eyebrow, the teen looked down at his clothing, checking once more that he was fully clothed in his Saiyaman outfit. That security check done, he glanced back at the thug, who was once more waving his weapon.

"Hey, kid! Didn't you hear me? I said move, move, move! Aw, heck… Never ask a kid to do a man's job." That said, he gripped the gun with both hands and began to fire a volley of bullets towards Gohan.

Mumbling irritably under his breath, Saiyaman rolled his eyes. "These guys never learn," before stancing. He couldn't let any bullets go by unless he wanted to risk one of the cop's behind him getting hit.

"Hey, you! You're going to get hit by the bullets, move now!" an officer yelled behind him. "Come on, you may be good, but you're not invincible to… Sweet Kami."

The voices fell silent as Saiyaman's hand snapped out to grab each one of the bullets, taking up each before letting it drop to the ground. After the five bullets had all clattered to the pavement, still smoking, Gohan crossed his arms before his chest in a very Vegeta-like manner as his eyes flared an aqua-marine once. Looking back to the officers behind him, he smirked.

"You were saying?"

"_Saiyaman, just recently declared to be Videl's partner in fighting crime, has just walked onto the scene. And… Oh, no! Ladies and gentlemen, the men are firing upon one of our city's fighters. From the looks of it, he's going to get hit unless he can, somehow, dodge bullets that are fired from close-range!"_

Videl grumbled under her breath. Declared? By who? By some rumor-spreading jerk, she assumed. After all, she had said no such thing, and she seriously doubted that Saiyaman had the nerve to even suggest it. Then again, he did get kinda weird sometimes. Hardly ever, though.

As the news was being relayed, the screams of Sharpener and triumphant yells of Erasa could be heard from outside, along with several fwaps and smacks of the rolled-up magazine.

"_Amazingly, the superhero has survived the attack, and managed to somehow stop each of the bullets that could've hit him or the officers behind him, without even getting hurt!"_

Of course he stopped the bullets. He was superman, wasn't he? Man of Steel, certainly. This Satan City Superboy was beginning to get on her nerves.

_Stupid annoying, grr… Guy! I don't know what else to call him!_ She screamed to herself, unconsciously ripping the bathrobe's string-thingy that kept it closed apart.

"Damn Saiyaman!"

Okay, first task done. The one that showed he was capable to go against armed men, at least. His second plan was to now save the girl, which shouldn't be of too much trouble, then kick some butt. And the second plan was going to move into action any second now, just any second…

Launching forward into the air, Gohan neatly executed a perfect spin, then dove straight towards the man who was holding the girl. The criminal gasped, firing several shots up at the dive-bombing hero; when the teenaged-version of superman vanished. Taken aback, the man glanced to and fro, when he paused; someone was tapping him on the shoulder.

Turning, he was met to the face with a vicious punch, enough to put him out of commission for the time-being. He immediately toppled over, dropping the squeaking child, who was taken up by Gohan in turn.

Saiyaman hoisted the girl up, so that he was holding her comfortably against his chest. The girl blinked, then squealed happily, reaching forward with tiny arms to hug Gohan around the neck. Blushing slightly, the hero easily moved out of the line of fire (the thugs were shooting at his back, which explained the little plinks and ding sounds as the bullets bounced off his back) to where he assumed her mother was standing. After all, the woman was bawling her eyes out, and nearly tackled Gohan once he was far enough from the crime scene.

The mother commenced to thank him repeatedly, while Gohan nodded politely to each (his head was starting to get a bit tired after the hundredth thank-you) and while the girl, Brianna, waved her arms about in the air, happily babbling.

After Brianna Brown had been returned to her mother, Gohan was left to deposit of the criminals. His timing was terrible, however; as soon as he walked back to where the shoot-out was taking place, he conveniently found himself directly in the middle of an explosion. Blinking as asphalt shot up around his body, he watched with partial interest as a piece of a car whizzed past his line of sight, while another had the courtesy to neatly thwack him upside the head. Muttering obscenities while rubbing the slightly sore spot, he decided to walk out of the haze that remained after the bursts of little exploded thingies stopped their assault.

Flicking a piece of half-melted steel away from his shoulder, along with a bumper that had implanted itself on his back, he made his way over to the partially stunned crew of cops. "So, did you get the--" he started, when the distant sound of tires screeching over asphalt reached his ears. He blinked onyx-colored eyes, and turned his head--just in time to see the van of the bank robbers crash through several cars, slam on the breaks, then turn sharply to speed towards the highway.

"Uhhh." Gohan stared blankly at the street where the crooks had turned onto, head slightly tilted to the side. He wasn't exactly expecting that, nope, not at all… With a defeated sigh, he trudged sadly after the car.

Finding that van could take awhile. After all, he had been silly enough to forget to check the men's ki signatures, and also had not taken note of the license plate of the car. Then again, getting the license wasn't really his job now, was it?

_Oh well. I guess I have a nice, long chase to look forward to._

Videl glowered at the TV, now completely uncaring of the fact that her bathrobe was left in tatters. Her excuse was that when a Satan was angry, no one should get in their way; not even a piece of clothing.

Yes, that was great. It was wonderful. Saiyaman saved some child, and for that she was grateful. But what she didn't appreciate was that he was being called Videl's partner every five seconds by the reporter who was announcing the news on the screen.

In the background, there was a sudden burst of materials and a loud bang, followed soon by a screeching of tires on pavement. The reporter gave a gasp and ducked to the ground, right as a shard of metal sailed over her head. A bit unnerved, but still managing to maintain an air of control, she straightened while dusting off her clothing.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, it seems that these crooks have no intention of coming in easily! One of them detonated a small bomb, just enough to cause a haze in the clearing and force our law enforcement back! They have escaped in the van, and--Wait, what's this?"_

She paused, glancing over her shoulder as someone spoke in quick whispers to her, before returning her attention to the camera.

"_It seems that Saiyaman will be pursuing these bank robbers in their van that's heading for the freeway right this moment! If you are currently driving on one of our city's freeways, please take the nearest exit and return home until these criminals are contained."_

_Well, at least the idiots had remembered to warn the listeners about a possible danger_, Videl thought with a snort.

"_Also, please report to us if you see a van, white in color, with very little markings! Here's another note about this vehicle; it has a bumper sticker of Satan Videl on the back. But this is no ordinary sticker. Instead of promoting our city's protector, it has a large, red X running through the picture! Now, about the damages done during this robbery--" _

Videl clicked off the TV with the remote, eyes nearly blazing with fire. Okay, it was bad enough that those boys had enough nerve to rob a bank with her around, but to insult her as well? That was the last straw. With a huff, she tore the bathrobe from her body, then yanked on a pair of loose denim jeans over sneakers. Screw the fact that she only had on a bikini top and jeans. If anyone had the nerve to stare, she'd deal with them _after _putting the con-men in their place. Sprinting from the Cabin, she leapt to the side to avoid colliding with Sharpener and Erasa.

"Hey Videl, that swimsuit's cute! Are you going to--Um, Videl… Videl, the lake's the other… way…?" Erasa blinked as her friend bolted past her.

Sharpener rubbed the back of his head where a bruise was forming, looking after the raven-haired girl with a confused mutter. "Where's she going?" he looked to Erasa, only to be smacked upside the head with the magazine again. "Ouch!"

"Okay, white van… White van… Is that it? No, that's a white and _blue_ van…" Gohan mumbled to himself as he soared over the freeway, briefly hovering in one place to check each of the vehicles below before moving on.

The job of hunting down the crooks was a lot harder than he'd expected. It was bad enough that there were plenty of white vans around there, but what really messed him up was that there was so many places where they could be!

Oh, wait! There it was! He was sure of it. As he swooped towards the van, he suddenly screeched to a halt before turning around dejectedly. Well, it _was_ a white van, and it was a plain white just like the description had said, but it was definitely not the same one. It didn't have the giveaway bumper sticker of Videl, and it certainly did not have any criminals within its plating.

With a deep sigh, he floated aimlessly about the freeway, watching with sharp eyes as each car passed by. Surely, one of them would have to be the one that held the people he was looking for. It would come along any second now, just any second.

It was then that a brief flash of red caught his eye; a tiny one, not that of a car but rather of a… sticker. He blinked once, then ducked into the volley of car's to slowly hover up behind it, to avoid a possible sighting in the van's rear-view mirror.

That was it! The Satan Videl sticker was right before his nose, along with the red X that gave the vehicle away. He grinned a little in his moment of triumph, before floating upwards once more. He figured that he'd lift the van out of the traffic, then drop it off somewhere near a police station for an easy capture.

Just as he was about to go on with the task, there was a loud roar above his head, enough to cause him to swerve to the side to avoid a possible collusion.

_What in the world…?_

Videl! Wasn't she supposed to be at Camp Hercule, doing whatever activity Rob had cooked up? His eyes widened, still with a glint of aqua hidden beneath the wells of onyx black.

Videl tapped the auto-pilot button on the chopper, eyes narrowing as she leaned out the side of the helicopter. It wouldn't be too hard to get on the van's roof, she'd done it before. Besides, this time she wouldn't have to gauge her jump; she'd remembered to bring a portable ladder along.

Shoving it out of the cockpit, she watched as it unrolled all the way down to nearly tap the roof's surface. Nodding her head once in self-satisfaction, she hopped easily out of the helicopter, free-falling for several breath-taking moments before grabbing hold of a ladder's rung before her. Only a few steps away until she'd be on the van--and there, it was done. Crouching as she nudged the ladder away, her bare hands gripped the top of the white van's surface. Now, how would she get the guys out of the vehicle?

Gohan gaped as Videl fell from her jet, and nearly dashed forward to save her from what he thought was to be a painful landing, when she suddenly grasped the ladder before her. Mentally sighing in relief, he shook his head. What in the world was she thinking, risking something like that? He floated forward slightly, cautiously, to get closer. She looked different now, that was for sure.

Suddenly he was in clear sight of her form, and he was taken aback immediately, breathing in a gasp of surprise. What was she _wearing?!_ Not that he had any complaints, that was for sure. He had no idea that she could look so… _nice_. But why was she wearing a bikini top with loose jeans? That was nearly the exact opposite of her usual baggy shirt with biker shorts.

It was then that he shook himself out of his trance, realizing that Videl was already on the top of the van's roof. He was going to go into action. After all, she did need his help, didn't she?

Jetting forward with a sudden burst of speed, he skidded through the air to stop gracefully before the van, stepping forward to move onto its surface. Videl didn't even notice him, since his movement was so quiet. He figured it'd only be fair if she knew, so he tapped her gently on the shoulder.

"Ack!" Videl shrieked as she spun with both eyes wide, nearly toppling off the car's surface. Gohan placed one hand on her shoulder, the other curling around her waist to steady her as he frowned a bit apologetically.

"Sorry," he whispered guiltily, shoulders hunching up in a submissive manner.

Videl drew in a deep breath of air to calm herself, then scowled. She had no time to lecture the boy for nearly scaring the crap out of her. What mattered was that they were in crowded traffic on top of a van that held convicted con-men.

She mumbled "Forget about it," returning to her original stance. Since he was already there, he might as well help. After all, what could go wrong?

She motioned with a hand to the left, then pointed to herself and the right. Gohan nodded, understanding; he was to go in through the left window, taking out whoever may be in the passenger's seat, while she was going for the driver.

Videl nodded in turn before glancing over the edge of the vehicle to the man beneath. Smiling wickedly, she raised a hand and counted off in silence; _Three, two, one._ In a sudden burst of movement, both teenagers swung themselves off the side of the van and into the windows, a yell of surprise and obvious pain as the criminals in the front found themselves being kicked repeatedly in the head.

Gohan grabbed both men by the collars and tossed them into the back of the van before leaping after the pair. There was sure to be more in the back, and he figured that he'd better take care of them while Videl drove. After all, he was clueless on driving; he'd never had to before.

Videl grabbed hold of the van's steering wheel with a hand while the other grabbed the gears, shifting instantly as she performed several sharp turns to head for the off-ramp. Tires screeching, she slammed on the brakes once at the side of the road before turning around in her seat to leap after Gohan, fists flying.

There were several grunts and thumps as the beating ensued, followed by silence. Already, police cars had surrounded the white van, guns raised as the officers took their place behind their car doors. They had no idea if the Crime Fighting Duo had been able to handle all five of the criminals alone, in a car running on a freeway…

It was then that the van's back door busted open, several bodies toppling out with a plop to land in a disgruntled heap on the ground. Several groans could be heard from the forms of the criminals, some rubbing bruised heads and already blackening eyes. First Gohan emerged, stepping carefully over each of the bodies with the manners of a gentlemen, then Videl, who leisurely stepped on top of each of the thug's chest with a small happy hop.

Landing next to Saiyaman, she crossed her arms before her chest and flashed a self-satisfied smirk. "So, did anybody miss us?"

It was then that the crowd that had formed burst into cheers, the snapping and flashing of photographer's cameras finishing off the scene.

Gohan groaned, rubbing the side of his head where a small bruise was already forming. Videl had knocked him upside the head when a photographer had asked them to pose together, since they were partners and everything. He had no idea when he had become Videl's partner, and from the looks of it, it wasn't exactly her idea.

Trudging to the alley-way where he had come from behind, he leaned against the brick wall with a sigh. He didn't think she'd _ever_ accept him, or anything like that. He knew she wanted him out of the way, but she needed his help. She couldn't do everything on her own…

"Saiyaman?"

Gohan jerked his head up at the voice. Grinning sheepishly, he scratched the back of his head as a form began to emerge from the shadows. "Hey," he replied, a little curious as to who the speaker was. He did recognize that voice from somewhere.

The demi-Saiyan was surprised to realize that it was Videl who had spoken, and in a tone that was almost out of character; cautious, pretty quiet, and … well, nice.

She clasped her hands behind her back, walking forward with her eyes looking to the ground. Gohan couldn't help but crack a smile. She sure was acting a lot different than normal, and she was _still_ dressed in those clothes that he was beginning to like a _lot._

"Umm…" she started, rocking on the heel of her foot, obviously embarrassed about what she was going to say. "Well, I know I've been pretty rough on you."

Gohan nodded, soundlessly urging her on. Whatever she was doing, he was clueless to why. He still had to figure out what she was doing to begin with.

"I mean, I've actually been a jerk if anything. It's just… when you first came around, I saw you as competition. And my dad, he has this thing about," she drew a deep breath, then immediately lowered her voice to mock that of her father's; "No Satan should ever be bested! Don't disgrace the name that I, the Champion, have created!"

That sure explained a lot. Videl had a tendency to freak out in school if she ever got anything close to a bad grade, but she was a lot worse whenever she thought that she didn't fight as well as she was supposed to. He always had wondered about that…

"So… So what I guess I'm trying to say is that… I'm sorry for acting so mean all the time, because I realize now that you're not such a bad guy and I can use the help, regardless of whatever Dad might say. It's not like I can everywhere at once," she finished with a small nod, still staring at the ground.

Gohan blinked, then flashed a very, very big smile. That had definitely just made his day! Unable to stop himself, he took two steps forward and picked Videl up in a hug. "Thanks, Videl!" he grinned, completely forgetting at the moment to drop his voice.

Videl squeaked in surprise as she was lifted off the ground and pulled into a tight hug. Eyes wide, she allowed herself to be held against a _very_ well-built frame (that she just noticed for the first time), and smiled a little on her own. One thing got to her though; wasn't his voice supposed to be lower?

All too quickly, Gohan realized what he was doing and had done, and promptly placed the girl back on a ground, thanking Dende for the helmet that was now concealing his red-tinted blush. Scratching the back of his head in a very Goku-like manner, he took several steps back, laughing nervously.

"Oh, uh, sorry about that," he smiled weakly. "I think I'd better be going, see you later Videl!" With a wave of his head, he turn and bolted into the air.

Videl watched after him for several seconds, hands now resting on her lips while her head tilted to the side. Still smiling, she shook her head and walked to her own mode of transportation. Fortunately she'd remembered to retrieve it after the capture. Hopping into the cockpit, she started the engine, taking to the air.

_He's not a bad guy at all._

"Well, this is a bust," Erasa muttered glumly. "Videl's off rescuing some person or something, and Gohan just had the nerve to ditch again! Those two…!" In her frustrations, she smacked the water in front of her, splashing Sharpener in the process.

"Hey!" he whined as he got splashed. "Erasa, it's not all a loss. I mean, look around you; have you ever seen so many babes?" The blonde-haired teen immediately fell silent as he realized that Erasa was glaring daggers at him; "But none of them compare to you, honey!"

Rob, in the meantime, was having fits. He had decked himself out in his fanciest swimsuit, just to look all sexy and handsome and stuff while posing as lifeguard. But what was the point if Videl wasn't around to see?

"My plan! It's all ruined now!" he growled to himself. Well, at least one of the plans was ruined; there were plenty more back ups, but he was ignoring that for the time being.

With a sigh, he began to spend his moments ogling the girls in the lake, occasionally raising his sunglasses to eye a chick more closely.

Meanwhile, back at the Cabin, Gohan had just returned. Zooming into the window he'd left open in his bedroom, he landed with a thunk on top of his bed. Rolling off the mattress, he accidentally slammed into the bed-side table head first, once again smacking the bruise that had already formed on his head. Yelping as he struggled to get his cape off his head, he finally realized there was a much easier way to go about it. Raising his arm, he clicked the red button on his watch, sighing as he his original clothing returned.

He looked around the room before peeking his head out the door, and groaned. Erasa and Sharpener had already left for the swimming he assumed, and he would definitely bed that Sharp thought he had ditched again. Shaking his head while mumbling, he crawled back up onto his bed while grabbing for a book. Since, apparently, he had 'ditched', he might as well make the time worth it.

Within minutes, he was absorbed in the documented 'History of Saiyans', a book written by Bulma with Vegeta supplying the information however unwillingly, when the creak of the door could be heard by his already sensitive hearing.

Pausing, he slowly closed the book and replaced it in his duffel. The swimming couldn't be over already; there was no way that that person was Erasa or Sharpener. Getting to his feet, he crept through the halls towards the door, turned a corner--and found himself face to face with Videl.

Both teens squeaked and jumped back away from each other, Videl taking on an expression of surprised annoyance while Gohan, a look of guilt.

"Sorry about that, Videl," he apologized while rubbing the back of his head.

The girl merely shook her head while sighing, straightening as she walked to her room, closing the door behind her. Gohan stumbled to his own feet, shrugged, then decided to wait in the living room. He figured that she'd be coming out eventually to bug him soon enough.

As he'd guessed, Videl soon reappeared outside her door, jeans and sneakers replaced by a beach towel and flip-flops. Walking to Gohan, she grabbed him by the shoulders and yanked him to his feet, shoving him towards his room. "If I'm going to be stuck with swimming, so are you," she notified him, pulling the door shut as he stared at her with wide eyes.

Standing outside his door, foot tapping the wooden floor impatiently as she whistled, she waited for several minutes. Arms folded before her chest, she bobbed her head from side to side as she heaved a sigh, before raising a fist to knock on Gohan's door again.

"Come on, Gohan! All you gotten change into is a swimsuit or something--" It was then that the door pulled open.

Videl eyed Gohan once as he stepped out; he was wearing a loose white tank over a pair of baggy jeans and sneakers. "I swear…" she ran her hand over her head, drawing out of a breath of air as she walked towards the door. "I hope you have your swimsuit under that, otherwise the counselors will get on your case."

Gohan nodded in response to the question-like statement, even though she couldn't see. Inwardly he sighed. So much for hiding the muscles, it sounded like he'd have to bare them for the class.

"Oh, my gosh! She's here!" Erasa squealed as she jumped up and down in the water, clapping her hands excitedly. "Sharpener, look! It's her _and _ Gohan!"

Erasa's boyfriend turned, eyes widening. "Well, I'll be… They actually showed. I thought the suckers were gonna bail on us!"

Videl, with a look that could be described as only grim determination, trudged out of the wooded area towards the beach-like area, ignoring the cheers of all of the single population of males, along with some of those that were already taken. The girls, in turn, cheered for Gohan, though not as enthusiastically since from the looks of it, he wasn't planning on showing up in a swimsuit.

Pulling the beachtowel away from her form, Videl tossed it towards Erasa and Sharpener's items, flip-flops soon following. Biting her bottom lip while looking to the lake, she paused instead of running right in. Turning back, she walked to Gohan and pulled him forward lightly by the front of his shirt.

"Just shed the outer clothes and show the swimsuit. I have to bare it, so it's not like it could be bad for you anything. Besides, even if you don't look your best, the girl's will still love you." Videl said the last part with a slight roll of her eyes--fan girls annoyed the heck out of her.

Gohan eyed her warily in response. _It's not that I think I look bad, more like I look too… me! And why are you acting so nice to me? You only apologized to Saiyaman…_

Videl was thinking the same, though more to herself than anyone. Stepping away from Gohan, she waited expectantly, hands on hips. _Why am I acting so nice to him all of a sudden? I've only apologized to Saiyaman today… Maybe because I still think they're the same person?_

With obvious reluctance, Gohan reached for the lower hem of his shirt, pulling it off, jeans and sneakers soon following. A gasp arouse from the class in the pool; the girls had stars and hearts in their eyes, while the guys were nearly growling with apparent envy. How in the hell did the geek get a body like _that?_

Videl, meanwhile, was staring at Gohan with wide eyes and an open mouth, frozen in place. She'd thought Gohan was worried about looking bad, but now she seriously doubted that was the reason for his attempted avoidance of swimming and, now she could see, tight shirts that would show off any and all muscles. He had never been one to enjoy attracting attention to himself, it seemed, and now she knew why; his muscles were perfect, sculpted, lean--everything that a girl could want, and a guy could have.

"Videl?" Gohan leaned towards Videl, cocking his head to the side as he observed her with a concerned look. "You okay?" He gently reached forward, placing a finger under Videl's chin to close her mouth.

Videl nearly toppled over at the sudden contact, then remembered that no, she was not one of Gohan's fan girls. So, bearing a weak smile, she bobbed her head once in response. "Oh, yeah, I'm just fine," she spoke in a voice she deemed to cheerful afterwards.

Looking at her with obvious suspicion, Gohan nodded slowly. "Right," he agreed subconsciously. Videl sure was acting weird these days!

Motioning to the lake, Gohan nudged Videl forward gently in the back. "Come on, you want to get out of the open don't you?" he grinned teasingly.

Stumbling forward a little bit at the contact, the girl let out a sheepish laugh, and nodded. That said, the pair made their way into the lake, and chaos returned to the beach.

Erasa clambered up to where Gohan and Videl were standing, splashing water all the way as she leapt. "Hey you guys!" She waved again, excitedly. "I didn't know you two would actually show! That's so cool."

Sharpener soon appeared behind his girlfriend, a sly grin on his face. "Of course they'd show. Gohan wouldn't miss out on a chance to see--Umph!" He grunted as both Erasa and Videl elbowed him hard in the stomach. Wincing, he rubbed the sore spot and backed away, hands raised. "Sorry I ever tried to talk," he mumbled grumpily.

Blinking in all his innocence, Gohan shrugged off the brief confusion. The crew then spent several minutes talking about all the idiocy that was Rob, along with who they thought would take the win home for the Baking Contest.

It was then that Rob grabbed up the loudspeaker, voice blaring. "Attention, boys and girls! We are now getting ready for the swimming contest! All who plan to enter, please come to the docks now!"

Masses of teenagers sped past the pair of four, Sharpener soon taking leave to join them. Videl and Erasa eyed Gohan, who just stood there, looking very much confused. He blinked, scratching the side of his head, and looked to each of the girls. "What?"

Erasa rolled her eyes. "Gohan, aren't you going to enter? It's like a tradition for all the guys in the school to enter and see who's the best swimmer."

Videl nodded in turn, in all seriousness. She however cracked a small smile; "Yeah well, it's just basically showing the girl population who's buff and who's not."

"Oh." Gohan bobbed his head once, understanding. He didn't think that he exactly needed more girls on his tail, though… After all, the swimming wouldn't be too hard, now would it? It was then that Gohan realized that he was being dragged, by the two girls, towards the docks. "What? Hey!"

He fought against the grips, but soon gave up. He couldn't get away without hurting either of them from the looks of it and he certainly didn't want to do that. He guessed that he'd just have to go through with the stupid contest.

He allowed himself to be shoved onto the dock, and stumbled briefly before being caught by Sharpener. The teen grinned at him, thumping him on the back once.

"Heya, Gohan! Didn't know you'd go through with it, man!"

With a weak smile, Gohan sighed and slowly made his way to the starting line. He might as well just get it over with, do whatever he had to do. He just wanted to finish the whole thing.

He settled into position, glancing from left to right at the others contending with him. Most of them he recognized as the school's famed jocks, all of which were casting sneers in his direction. They had every intention of leaving him far behind, since he'd had the nerve to steal their girls.

Gohan gulped and looked away, deciding that he'd just look straight ahead for the rest of the race. He wouldn't wanna turn his head right into someone's punch and end up hurting their fist… Yes, it had been tried before, and no, he had never gotten hurt. He didn't need to freak them out anymore at the moment.

It was then when the whistle went off with a loud beep. Each boy lunged into the water, Gohan unfortunately not with them. He looked about, confused, when Videl suddenly sprang up next to him.

"Gohan!" She yelled, waving her arms. "That meant go! Now go!"

"Oop!" With a quick nod of his head, Gohan turned and leapt into the water, speeding forward with several powerful strokes of his arms.

He figured that he might as well finish in a place that wasn't too obvious, not too embarrassing… So, he ducked down under the water and streaked forward, zooming past several bodies.

Gohan continued jetting forward, not bothering to surface for air. After all, he wouldn't need it for awhile. He'd just wait 'till the whole thing was over. Easily weaving between even more forms, he soon found himself in the clear. With a sigh of relief, he sped forward, not bothering to look anywhere except straight ahead.

He curved around the rock that was supposed to be the half-way point, then started back at full-speed. It was in no time at all that he found himself back at the dock. He had taken it easy, and he'd hoped that a few others had finished before him.

Reaching up with both arms, he grabbed onto the side of the deck and yanked himself up, pulling his body onto the wooden surface, then gulped.

He was first by a long shot. The rest of the guys in the race were far behind, just now rounding the half-way point. He looked around, a little embarrassed as all the girls stared wide-eyed. Videl, a look of shock, Erasa, a look of happy surprise, and everyone else, love. Well, obsession, anyways.

With a roar of approval, the girls rushed forward, all crowding around him. He eeped as he was dragged under, covered with screaming, giggling bodies of the female population of his school.

Rob looked up and, with a grumpy mutter, spoke into the loudspeaker. "That kid wins. He gets to meet Hercule at the fights."

Gohan, who didn't even hear the mentioning of the father of Videl, gasped as he attempted to run from the flocks of teenaged women surrounding him. It was getting to be pretty hopeless…

It was then when two arms grabbed his right, and two his left, and yanked him from the dog-pile. Fortunately enough, no one realized his exit, each girl assuming that he was somewhere above or below in the pile of people.

Gohan scratched the back of his head as he stumbled off, smiling gratefully at Videl and Erasa. "Thanks, you guys," he said sheepishly. "They're like wolves!"

Erasa nodded, looking wise beyond her years. "That's what happens when you go to Camp with your fan club, Gohan," she declared, tapping her cheek in thought.

Videl looked utterly disgusted at this revelation, while Gohan looked, as usual, confused. _Fan club? Since when do I have one of those?_ Shrugging it off, he turned his head as Sharpener walked up, fairly stiff. "Hey, Sharpener."

The boy eyed him, then looked to Erasa with disbelieving eyes. "D-did he really…?"

She nodded. "Yup, he did."

At that, Sharpener turned, grabbing Gohan's hand and shaking it furiously while patting him roughly on the back. "Nice, my man!" He said excitedly, all smiles.

Gohan nodded as his hand was furiously shook for several minutes, tilting his head to the side midway. Once Sharpener realized that he should probably stop, he took his hand away, immediately apologizing and changing the subject with a disgruntled snort. The rest went along with the change, as the lake restored to normal; boys running amuck, girls trying to avoid being splashed, the usual.

The conversation was abruptly interrupted however, when a pair of shorts when sailing past Videl's head to land in the middle of the small circle of friends, a shriek sounding from the other side of the lake.

"_Pantsed!_"

With that word, the entire population currently swimming within the lake broke into utter chaos. The girls, shrieking, tried to run from the boys who were currently attempting to yank their bikini tops off. Some of the braver girls fought back, yanking down several pairs of trunks on the boys before running off on their own.

Videl and Gohan, standing with their mouths agape, looked to each other and then to where Erasa and Sharpener had been standing before, only to see that the pair was gone. "Oh great, we've been ditched," Videl grumbled while folding her arms over her chest.

It was then that Videl heard a whooping behind her. Eyes wide, she leapt to the side, just as a boy fell face-first into the water, hand extended as its original mark, Videl's bikini strap, was yanked out of his grasp.

Gohan stared blankly at the half-drowned boy as he got to his feet, sputtering, took one look at Videl's infuriated face, and trudged away with his head lowered. Scratching the back of his head, the Saiyan glanced to Videl and realized that she was in no way pleased.

He took two easy steps forward (right as a girl plopped into the water behind him, narrowly missing the back of his swim trunks) and tapped Videl lightly on the shoulder.

"What?!" she snapped, obviously irritated.

"Umm," Gohan laughed weakly. "You okay?"

The girl nodded, a little more solemnly this time. "Yeah, I just don't feel like getting my bikini topped yanked off anytime soon."

At this, the boy frowned. "Well, that doesn't seem very nice of them to do that," he muttered. He then concluded that he would keep the scum away from Videl until she said otherwise.

From then on, Gohan found himself smacking away boys with a flick of his hand whenever they dove for Videl. He made sure to do this out of Videl's line of sight, however, so she wouldn't get touchy about him protecting her in a way.

Videl, in turn, was doing him a favor of her own. Every once in awhile she'd drop back and shoot a glare that was sharper than the tip of a dagger at the line of fan girls that had formed behind Gohan, preparing to pounce on their current victim and yank off his swimsuit. They each would attempt to glare back, then would weaken within seconds, slowly making their way back to the other favored jocks of the school's population.

The pair eventually made it to a secluded area of the lake, a small beach-like area covered with the shadows of several trees, small patches of sunlight available for those who preferred the light to the dark.

Stumbling out of the water, Gohan took a seat against a tree while Videl decided that the sand would provide enough cushions. Looking out from the small hide-away that they'd both silently agreed to stay at, they both watched with little interest as Rob ran through the masses, attempting to restore order, while several teens ran in circles around them, one with his trunks down to his ankles.

Videl quirked an eyebrow in the direction of the ruckus, then decided to take advantage of the current situation. After all, how often was she left alone with Gohan with no one else around? Actually, it happened quite often… but she didn't realize it most of the time.

"So, Gohan."

"Mmhm?" The Saiyan remained completely oblivious as he lazily picked at a grain of sand, making little drawings in the sand with the tip of his finger.

"Umm." Videl looked blankly at Gohan, hoping that he'd actually look at her if she stared. Fortunately enough, he did finally feel the look piercing into his back, and turned around with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Sorry about that. What is it?"

"How in the world did you get a body like that?"

Immediately, Gohan's face became incredibly red as he sputtered with apparent embarrassment. "I, uh, I… train," he decided, nodding rapidly.

Videl eyed him skeptically. "Train for what?" She remembered him saying something at the beginning of the year, but she had totally forgotten what it was.

Well, Gohan knew that skipping around the question certainly wouldn't work this time, and he had no plans of lying to her anytime soon. Not when it wasn't necessary, at least.

"Martial Arts," he finally mumbled.

_Ah, well. That explains some stuff,_ Videl concluded. The muscles were definitely something you wouldn't get from any average game of baseball. But, still. Sharpener worked out plenty and had no problem showing it, and still, his muscles weren't comparable to Gohan's. Gohan's were much more muscular in a sense, but still lean, not too bulky…

She snapped herself out of the thoughts with a groan, covering her face with a hand. _Videl! Get a hold of yourself! This is Gohan we're talking about here. Since when did Gohan become an interest to the side of Videl that has an appreciation for boys?_

"Um, Videl?" Gohan was worried now. Videl was thinking, that much was obvious. But about what? Did she suspect him to be Saiyaman again? After all, the Martial Arts thing was only something that helped prove it to be true.

"Huh? Oh, sorry about that." With a small grin, Videl settled back onto the sand, hands tucked behind her head. She had to digest this new information, and add it to her little library of things about Son Gohan.

It was then that an idea--and a very good one at that, popped up into her devious mind. Tapping a finger on her chin, she grinned. Why not? What was there to lose?

Videl rolled over onto her stomach, hands crossed before her as she eyed him. He nervously returned the look, a little edgy. That glint in her eye, it meant something was up. And he'd bet anything and everything that it had something to do with him.

"Say, Gohan."

"Yes?"

"How about sometime you and me spar? You know, just to get in the training and to test each other out."

Gohan didn't miss the small, scheming smile that was spreading across Videl's lips, but he chose to ignore it. Gulping, he shook his head slowly.

"N-no, that's okay, Videl…"

"No, really! I insist. I'll even go easy on you."

_I'm not worried about you beating me, Videl,_ Gohan thought glumly. _I'm afraid that I'd accidentally hurt you…_

"Come on, Gohan. You can't be scared."

Well, that certainly did it. Gohan's eyes lit up instantly, almost as if bursting into fire, and a tiny, imperceptible flicker of gold formed around his body. His Saiyan pride had just kicked in.

"Scared?" he scoffed, something that was completely out of character. As he continued on, Videl's eyes began to widen. "Scared of you? I think not!" He crossed his arms over his chest, mouth set in a deep frown, as he glowered at Videl. "It should be the other way around!"

Videl blinked, and managed to restrain laughter. She had no idea that it'd be so easy to get him to agree! Before she could set the time and date, however, yelling from the lake could be heard.

"Hey, Videl! Gohan! C'mon, Rob says we gotta bail the lake and go back to our cabins for a few hours until the Baking Contest. He sounds kinda pissed," Erasa giggled as she walked up to them.

Videl, annoyed that the conversation had been interrupted, said nothing. Gohan on the other hand nodded and followed after the couple, the girl trailing behind. Within seconds, the entire crew of soaked and laughing teenagers was ushered back to their respectable Cabins, several counselors left to patrol the area to make sure none of them snuck out to visit other Cabins.

Sharpener and Erasa, remaining unaware of the tension between their raven-haired friend and a very nervous Gohan, amused themselves by dragging the TV into the boy's room (along with a bowl of popcorn) to watch a movie for some cute couple togetherness. Gohan and Videl ended up claiming the main room for their own, each equipped with their own piece of literature. Gohan had selected the 'History of Saiyans', though he kept the title hidden from Videl, and the daughter of Hercule chose 'The Art of War'.

Gohan managed to keep his nose buried behind his book, not even daring to cast a glance in the girl's direction. Videl, however, didn't care if he knew she was staring. Why was he so nervous, just because she challenged him? When his pride took over, he didn't seem upset about it at all. Just indignant if anything.

It was when the silence became unbearable that Videl spoke.

"Gohan, why don't you want to fight anymore?"

He pretended not to hear. Now a little irritated, the girl placed her hands on her hips and scowled.

"Gohan!" she said in a disapproving tone.

He raised his head a little, nodding it slightly to acknowledge that he had, indeed, heard her.

"Why don't you want to fight me anymore?"

Gohan mumbled his response into the pages of his book, turning one as he did so. He knew that she wouldn't react all too kindly to his real reason for not wanting to fight, but he couldn't lie! Could he? Of course not. That would be impolite.

"Gohan," Videl snapped. "Tell me right now, this instant. You know I won't stop until you tell me."

Oh, yes. He did know. In fact, he knew very, very well. Whenever Videl got going, she wouldn't stop until she had found what she was looking for. _Darn it, Videl. You're going to get pissed at me again… or something._

"I don't wanna hurt you."

At this, Videl was left a little more than dumbstruck. That was the first time anymore, save the thugs and robbers who were obviously in over their heads, had said that they were worried about hurting _her,_ not the other way around. She thought it was some silly thing such as that he had gotten caught up in the moment, and really was just blowing hot air when he said that she should be afraid of him. But, from his solemn manner, she could see now that he meant every word he said, though it was said in more aggressive contexts before.

"Well, I never," she declared a bit huffily. Who was he, to be judging her fighting already? She seriously doubted that he'd even caught a glimpse of any of her moves. Well, maybe she was being a bit hypocritical, considering that she'd never seen him fight either. But she was sure she could take him down if she had to, if she really wanted to.

Gohan heaved a sigh of relief into the bindings of the huge book. He thought she'd do a lot more than that, he thought that she'd rant and rave and try to bite his head off. But, no, all he got was a response that showed that Videl was only slightly insulted by the statement.

"Thank you, Dende," he said softly to the air, raising his head a little in acknowledgement. "Now, if only you could bail me out all the time…"

Videl ignored the whisperings behind the book, still very much upset. She didn't know what to say without sounding like a stuck-up jerk, so she said nothing. Instead, she fumed on her own, bottom lip stuck out in a rare pout.

She hoped that Gohan wouldn't see the look of displeasure that she refused to voice crossing over her features. And, naturally, because she wished such; he did. He managed to not burst into laughter. Instead, he chuckled quietly under his breath, a tiny smile appearing on his face.

Videl had no idea why she cared so much about not being a jerk to this guy. She had her reasons for Saiyaman. I mean, he had been there multiple times to bail her out, and was always there whenever she was in deep crap. But Gohan? What'd he done to get her appreciation?

She always thought it had something to do that hung in the back of her mind, always declaring that Gohan was Saiyaman. She had voiced that opinion several times to him herself, but he appeared so against it that she eventually was beginning to give up.

However, finding out that he was into Martial Arts, had such a … well, very nicely built body, and that he had a prideful side kind of nudged her back towards what she had originally believed. Gohan and Saiyaman, two in one?

She decided to shrug it off for now. Replacing the book in front of her, she smiled to herself as she heard a barely audible sigh of relief escape Gohan's lips. Apparently, he had been a little freaked out from her staring. Aw well. Too bad for him!

Rob tiredly trudged into his cabin, closing the door quietly behind him. Kicking off his sandals, he collapsed in a rocking chair that stood next to his bed. He heaved a sigh; Videl had deluded him again.

He was nearly at his wits end. How could he possibly get in the girl's pants if she wasn't ever around for him to pull some moves? He figured that he'd just have to pull a move, one that should shoot him pretty far up in the dating game. No girl could resist it, he was a pro. He was the best. He was superb. He was… all that.

He was your everything, and more.

That little agreement made within his tiny pea-pod of a head, Rob grinned contentedly at his form in the mirror before sauntering off towards the showers. Well, sure. He was going to wait until after the Baking Contest to do anything, he'd rather show his manliness in another manner besides his expertise in cooking. But, until then, he'd make sure that he smelled good.

After all, who could resist the 'Lumberjack' cologne?

"Okay, only a few hours 'till the Baking Contest." Erasa rummaged through the fridge, pulling out assorted items from the fridge. Fortunately for everyone else, Erasa did have some cooking sense, so she ended up making everything.

She didn't let anyone skip out on the work though. Sharpener found himself driving back and forth from the supermarket while they were cooking before, while Videl and Gohan were assigned random tasks, such as stirring and mixing. Something that they had no chance of screwing up.

"There!" Settling her hands on her hips, she smiled very contentedly. Everything was just right. Now, where was the rest of the team?

She looked around with a blank expression, then ventured a cautious question; "Anyone there?"

Videl wandered in from the main room, Gohan in tow, while Sharpener peeked his head out from the boy's bedroom. "Yes, sweet pea?" he said in a slightly sarcastic voice.

Erasa shot a glare at her boyfriend. "Hey, you don't have to get all jealous just 'cause I can cook and you can't," she snapped back. Sharpener muttered something obscene under his breath and sulked off back into the boy's room.

Videl and Gohan looked at each other meekly, then back to Erasa.

"Okay, you guys, since Sharpener is being an _ass_," She said it in an obnoxiously loud voice, grinning from ear to ear when Sharpener grunted in return; "We'll fix everything up for now. Okay, you guys, get ready to take home the first prize!"

With an enthusiastic snort, both Videl and Gohan went to work, preparing Erasa's creations for the Baking Contest, only hours away.

**To be continued…**


	7. Bring It!

Field Trip To CampHercule

**Field Trip To CampHercule**

--

**Previous chapter…**

--

Videl wandered in from the main room, Gohan in tow, while Sharpener peeked his head out from the boy's bedroom. "Yes, sweet pea?" he said in a slightly sarcastic voice.

Erasa shot a glare at her boyfriend. "Hey, you don't have to get all jealous just 'cause I can cook and you can't," she snapped back. Sharpener muttered something obscene under his breath and sulked off back into the boy's room.

Videl and Gohan looked at each other meekly, then back to Erasa.

"Okay, you guys, since Sharpener is being an _ass_," She said it in an obnoxiously loud voice, grinning from ear to ear when Sharpener grunted in return; "We'll fix everything up for now. Okay, you guys, get ready to take home the first prize!"

With an enthusiastic snort, both Videl and Gohan went to work, preparing Erasa's creations for the Baking Contest, only hours away.

--

_Bring It!_

--

Rob gently smoothed down his locks of hair, placing a white chef's hat on top once he was sure it wouldn't pop back up. That task finished, he then tied an apron over his form, one that clearly stated how he felt about himself on the front in big, black, bold letters; _The cook is the sexiest being on earth._

Just in case anyone has any questions, he _did _write on that title himself with a permanent black pen. It was starting to smudge a little, but that didn't really matter, just as long as he got the point across. And what's the point? The point is that he's dead sexy, and that every woman who walked the earth should want to get in his pants.

Grinning from ear to ear as he sported his beautiful, yet still masculine chef's outfit, complete with little white boots that, even though they were too big for his feet, looked damn good. To him, at least. He then paused for a second, and grinned.

Stretching his body as he lifted his left leg off the ground in a 'graceful' arc, he held his left hand out to the side to balance himself and his right hand up, wielding a spatula. He smiled a bleached-white-toothed grin to finish off the pose.

Holding it for several seconds, he eventually realized it'd be a good idea to go start up the contest. Dropping his left foot to the ground, he attempted to crack his neck with a brief jerk of his head (he considered it to be a _very _masculine movement considering he'd seen a buncha' big fancy-schmancy hot TV guys do it), then soon discovered it wouldn't crack. He settled for cracking his knees instead.

"Alright, my little pretties," he smiled as he strode confidently through the door. "Prepare to meet the wildest cooker of the west; Robby the Kid!"

"Erasa, do I really gotta--"

"Yes!"

"But Erasaaaa!" Gohan whined as the girl continued to pile stacks of food into his arms. Several pans were at the bottom of the pile, with some covered bowls over them. On the very top of the pile were the pitchers of tea and the shakes.

"Gohan, just deal with it," Erasa growled through clenched teeth as she turned to give Videl some paper plates and napkins, along with plastic utensils. "Since Sharpener's being a jerk he can't come out and help, and it really doesn't look like you're having any trouble holding that!"

Gohan shook his head in response. "Erasa, it's not that, it's…" His stomach rumbled loudly, and Gohan smiled sheepishly. "I'm starving!"

Erasa shoved a laughing Videl out the door with a push, than ran into place behind Gohan to push him forward as well.

"I'm sorry, Gohan. But Sharpener refuses to carry anything at the moment because I insulted his little ego. I promise that as soon as this contest is over, I'll make you a few plates of food alright?"

That was enough to make the Saiyan cooperative for the day. An imperceptible line of drool running out of the corner of his mouth, Gohan obediently fell into step behind Sharpener, Videl and Erasa.

The crew tromped on over towards the main hall, which would be the grounds for the contest. Erasa found herself repeatedly smacking Gohan over the back of the head to distract him from the food in front of him, while Sharpener grumbled as Videl continued to urge him to walk faster by kicking his sneakers on the heels.

Within a time that seemed _very_ long to everyone involved in the walk, they were standing inside the main hall. Erasa bustled Gohan off to a table with a sign that said 'Cabin #7' over it, Videl following not too far behind. Sharpener decided to make himself useful by pouting on a bench in a corner that was relatively near by. At least he was even gracing the room with his beautiful presence.

Soon, all the food was laid out on the table with little decorative quirks to it. Videl placed the utensils and paper plates in a pile next to it, along with plastic cups, and Cabin #7's table was complete.

Erasa gave a satisfied sigh, then went off to complete her next mission; getting Sharpener to stop being a dolt. This left Gohan and Videl alone, looking very lost while standing in front of the food.

Gohan was eyeing the food hungrily while Videl eyed Gohan; not in exactly the same way, exactly. More like sudden interest. Actually, she had been interested for awhile, but she just now decided to act on it. She had a few questions to ask that she'd demand to be answered! No getting away! She wanted to know then and now and… well, immediately.

She cast a few glances around, making sure no one was looking, then suddenly reached out to grab Gohan by the hand as she sprinted for the door. The demi-Saiyan had no warning of the 'attack', considering he'd been staring at the food only previously.

As they popped out of the building, Videl tugged Gohan over to a clump of trees before stopping once in complete cover. Gohan stumbled to a stop, looking to the girl curiously. What was up now?

Videl peeked around the tree once to check for anyone else, than turned back to Gohan. She raised an eyebrow; "Why."

"W-what?" Gohan tilted his head to the side in a very cute manner, frowning a little. "Why what?"

Shaking her head, Videl gave an exasperated sigh. "Why you haven't showed off any of this stuff that it looks like you really can do? I mean, everyone just thought you were some guy who knew his academics, but it turns out it's more than that. It's just so… weird."

Gohan gulped uneasily. What was she getting at?

"You can swim really, really fast, and I've seen you play baseball before. Not anytime recent, but during gym. You have skills that are comparable to a Major League professional player! You train in Martial Arts, and it's obviously paying off…"

She eyed his body for a moment while Gohan blushed in turn. Well, he tried not to notice it since it always made the girls act funny around him.

"It's like you have split personalities."

The boy waited for Videl to continue, then realized that was it. She just wanted to know why he was so different and why he didn't just merge everything together instead of hiding some stuff, from the looks of it. He nearly heaved a sigh of relief, before noticing that Videl was still holding one of his hands.

His eyes widened, and his blush instantaneously deepened. "Umm."

"Huh?" Videl blinked azure-colored eyes, then followed Gohan's gaze. "U-uh, oh… Err." Drawing her hand back quickly, she turned around and covered her face with a hand while gently biting her bottom lip.

_Good Lord, that's embarrassing._

Gohan scratched the back of his head sheepishly, resisting the urge to laugh for some unknown reason. He coughed once, shifting his feet restlessly in the leafy ground, than decided it'd be a good time to answer that question of Videl's.

"Well, about that question. I've never been one to really go out and brag about what I can do, you know? Because of that, people don't normally find out what I can do. So it all works," he stated, nodding his head once. "People just look at me and assume I'm a nerd who can only ace tests and do good in nothing else. The guys already hate me because, for whatever reasons, I'm being followed by girls." To this he frowned, then continued. "If everyone knew exactly what I could really do when I wanted to, than they'd either hate me, be scared of me or be obsessed. The people here only know a little about me and already they can be classified in one of those groups. Most of 'em think I'm a freak by now, probably."

Videl turned to look at Gohan, the embarrassment fortunately gone from the situation, replaced by guilt. She couldn't help but feel bad; she'd been one of those people to 'classify' him in the nerd section to begin with. She could see now that he definitely wasn't a nerd, but a really cool guy who just didn't want to be noticed by the masses.

She didn't fear him or hate him or anything, and she was pretty sure she wasn't obsessed--just interested. Sheepishly running her hand over her hair to draw back several strands of jet-black, she coughed once, uneasily.

_Damn it, I'm feeling embarrassed again. Stupid, too. I feel like such a jerk…_

Gohan eyed her warily, almost expecting her to burst out about how corny that sounded. When she didn't, he blinked onyx-colored eyes, carefully cocking his head to the side in a gradual movement. Man, he would dish out _big_ bucks to just get a hint of what she was thinking at the moment.

Videl, now staring at the ground, didn't notice the silence. She was too busy thinking to herself, and that made the small clearing seem very loud and noisy to her.

…_So that explains it! And he really is that innocent, he's not faking it. And, and… I'm so going to kill the next guy who says he's a nerd, he isn't!_

_I wonder where she's ticklish._ Gohan's thoughts were considerably different, and were on subjects that had no relation to what he just said, but his thoughts all the same. His theory was that it would be something common that no one would try to do, since it wouldn't be exactly the most sane action to tickle the city's crime-fighting heroine. Somewhere that had may have been hit, but never _tickled._

_How could've I been so mean to him? He probably thought that __**I **__thought that he was a major geek and a loser! Well, I did for a little while but he's __**not**__, and that's the important part. Hey, waitta' second…_ Videl paused in her ranting thoughts to eye Gohan quizzically. He was looking at her with the oddest smile on his face, one that she'd like to know the thoughts behind.

_I wonder… Well, only one way to find out!_ All rational thoughts dashed from his mind, Gohan suddenly lunged forward and tackled Videl to the ground, catching her by complete surprise.

"_What_ are you--!" She stopped mid-yelp as her eyes widened in complete astonishment, before she burst out laughing.

Gohan grinned widely as he continued his assault of Videl's stomach, tickling her mercilessly. She continued giggling and kicked out at him, trying to knock him away, but he neatly swung his body to the side just in time to avoid the hit.

"Gohan!" Videl gasped between laughs, completely confused as to why the teen had chosen _that_ moment to tickle her. Wasn't exactly like him…

"Hm?" he managed as his mischievous smile grew wider. He was right, his theory was completely correct! But, wait a second… Realization hit him, and a very large, crimson-red blush spread over his cheeks as he yanked his hands back, locking them behind him. However, considering that he had been leaning over her and that his support was now gone, this caused him to collapse on top of her.

"Oof!" Videl grunted as Gohan completely dropped onto her, forehead's bonking against each other. "Ow!" she yelped as she placed a hand on her head, trying not to laugh when she saw her friend do the same. "Yeah, that kind of hurt…" she muttered, trying to sit up. However, Gohan had yet to move, and until he did she was trapped under him.

Gohan groaned as he rubbed his forehead, eyes squinted shut. Completely oblivious to Videl who was squirming under him, he lightly cracked his neck to one side. "That one was a doozy," he decided, nodding his head once.

Gritting her teeth, Videl placed both hands on Gohan's chest and shoved up, hard. Since the boy was caught off-guard, this was enough to cause him to topple to the side, hitting his head again on a tree. With a relieved sigh, Videl sat up, dusting dirt off her shirt. Gohan, rather, gave another groan as he rubbed the second bruise now forming on his head.

"Videl!" he whined, making a face. "That wasn't nice!"

Smirking, Videl got to her feet. "Whoever said I was nice?" She cast a look to the Main Hall, noticing that the judging was about to begin. She nodded towards Gohan; "Later." Turning, she strode easily towards the Hall.

Gohan remained on the ground for a moment longer, watching Videl's retreating form. "Well, you _can_ be nice."

"Ladies and gentlemen! This is the time that all of you, yes, all of you, have been waiting for… The judging of the Baking Contest!"

The crowd gave a response of sarcastic clapping.

"I, the Head Camp Counselor, Rob, will be one of your judges for the evening! Several other counselors will join me in this grand task and we will select the Cabin with what we believe to have the best food!"

Rolling her eyes, Erasa glanced over at Videl. "Well, duh," she grumbled, her raven-haired friend snickering under her breath.

"Alright, folks, this is it! Go ahead and mingle as we judge your food!"

The room burst into instant chatter as the large group of gathered students separated to go their own ways, many meeting in small clusters at their tables. The set of four did just that, eventually coming to a stop in front of the feast.

Gohan stared openly at the food, eyes gradually widening as he began to inch towards it. "Must… have…" he mumbled almost incoherently, arms reaching forward for the first platter of food.

"Oh, no you don't!" Erasa's spatula came swinging downwards, slapping Gohan hard on the exposed skin on the back of his hand. The boy yelped and yanked his now red hand back, cradling it gently. Shaking her spatula at him, Erasa growled. "Can't touch, can't have!" She paused, then grinned evilly, eyebrow arcing. "And if you do touch, believe me, you won't ever be able to eat again!"

Gulping, Gohan nodded. Erasa reminded him of a miniature version of his mom sometimes; always trying to hook him up with someone, namely Videl… wields a kitchen utensil… Shaking his head, he took a seat on the bench, now in all-out pout mode because food was so near, but he couldn't have any.

Videl gazed to Gohan sympathetically. After being in the same cabin with the guy for awhile, she finally realized that his food intake was no joke and that he seriously needed to eat that much. Erasa caught the glance and grinned knowingly before turning to Sharpener, instructing him to protect the food from Gohan while handing him the spatula, Gohan jumping to his feet as he realized Erasa was about to leave. Grabbing Videl by the hand she marched off, friend in tow, while Sharpener blinked at the item now in the palm of his hand.

"Women," he muttered, chucking the spatula over his shoulder onto the table. "I can keep him away from the food, _Sharpener_ _style_." Rolling up the arms of his sleeves, he struck a Mortal Kombat pose. "Try me if you dare, boy!"

A large sweat drop rolled down the side of Gohan's forehead, and the teen decided to let his blonde-haired friend be. He knew he could take the guy easily, but didn't really want to embarrass him… then have to face Erasa's wrath afterwards. Groaning, he plopped back down on the bench, shoving his head into his hands. _Dende hates me._

Erasa, meanwhile, had cornered Videl in the girl's bathroom with a triumphant smirk on her face. Resting her hands on her hips while tilting her head to the side, she grinned. "You so, _so_ like Gohan!"

Videl's jaw dropped and her eyes widened while Erasa tried not to laugh at her friend's stricken expression. "I do not!"

"Denial!" Erasa decided, delighting in the incredibly annoyed look on Videl's face. "And if you didn't like him, you wouldn't get so defensive about it, Miss Satan!"

Sighing, Videl hid her face in her hands. She couldn't believe this. Hadn't she had enough torture from Erasa already? Hadn't they already gone through multiple 'Gohan Talks' already? She needed a break!

"Erasaaaa…" she groaned, hoping that the girl would give her some relief.

Naturally, the girl did not.

"'Del, you're so, _so_ obvious. But, whatever. If you don't want to get with the guy of your dreams, that's your choice, not mine. I'm sure some other chicky will pick him up sooner or later." Erasa smirked once more in Videl's direction before abruptly turning, sauntering off.

_Oh. My. Kami. I can't believe she just did that._ Videl looked around for something to tear into shreds, and settled with a tiny piece of paper which she made even tinier in her irritation. Erasa knew exactly what she was doing when she had basically said that Gohan was going to be snatched up by some other adoring fan if she didn't move fast. She, for some reason, knew that she didn't want that at all, but she also wasn't sure if she really wanted him.

_Let's recap._ Did she want him? Well, she had to admit, he was pretty adorable sometimes. And was smart, and respectful, and nice, and cute, and, well, hot. Okay, now she was beginning to sound like one of those fan girls. Mentally slapping herself, she continued her train of thought, unawares that she had been walking out of the bathroom due to habit.

_Okay, so maybe I do sorta like him. Just a little. Just a teeeensy bit. I mean, he is kind of perfect… and if he has any flaws I kinda like 'em. Like the innocence? That just makes him cute. So, if I ever did go out with him, I wouldn't have to worry about him being a creep…_

"Ouch!" Videl bounced back, toppling over backwards to land on the ground. Groaning, she rubbed her back as she sat up, squinting her eyes as she tried to see who, or _what,_ she'd run into. It felt like she freakin' ran full-speed into a stupid steel wall.

"Oh, sorry about that Videl. I thought you saw me…" A hand reached down into her line of vision and she accepted it gratefully, the source of the voice pulling her back up to her feet. She recognized that voice from somewhere…

"Gohan!" Videl brushed the strands of hair away from her eyes as she blushed, ducking her head down sheepishly. "Don't apologize, it was my fault, I should've been watching where I was going." _Okay, embarrassing, embarrassing, embarrassing! I was thinking about if I liked him or not and I freakin' ran into him… And now I'm acting like an idiot. Someone, shoot me. Now._

"Uhh…?" Gohan scratched the back of his head curiously, now looking at Videl. Did she just apologize to him? Well, it actually wasn't that surprising, but what was surprising was that she was looking very shy at the moment. The last time he checked, he didn't see Videl as a shy one. Shrugging, he decided that it was a mood swing.

"It's not a problem, Videl. Honestly. Anyways, we've gotta get back to the competition. They're starting up soon, and I wanna eeeaaat..."

Shaking off her sheepish exterior, Videl laughed, turning Gohan around before steering him forward by the shoulders. "So let's go eat, Superboy!"

_Why is Videl always around those nitwits? And especially… that one?! Can't she see I'm so much better?!_

Rob grumpily flipped a burnt hamburger into the air, pausing when he realized it didn't come back down. Glancing up slightly, he looked around, than frowned, placing his hands on his hips. Where in the hell did it go?

Well, it had actually landed on top of his poofy-white chef's hat, and was now leaking oil through the cloth onto his hair, but no one noticed. And if they did, they didn't care. Not like he didn't already have oily hair to begin with.

He nearly screeched as he saw Videl leaning back against Gohan, using him as a temporary cushion. The demi-Saiyan didn't seem to notice as he eagerly sampled each random piece of food that had been spared to the classes while the judges each took only a small portion for their decisions.

"She should be using _me _as a pillow, not him! Heck, he shouldn't even be within a mile of that babe…" he glowered to himself, oblivious to the stares he was receiving from students that were close enough to hear what he spoke.

Slamming his burger-flipping thingy on the table next to the mini-barbecue (called the 'Bachelor's Barbecue; make the hottest burgers for the hottest chicks!'), Rob decided to break up what he considered to be a love-fest between 'the whore-boy' and Videl. He didn't like what they were doing, not at all… that kid was allowing Videl to practically lay herself all over him while he fondled her!

Actually, Gohan wasn't doing a thing but reaching over the table to reach the remaining food by leaning back behind Videl, his arm slipping behind her back for a moment before he snatched the plate back to eating-range.

He was right about to bring the smack-down on the daring boy when the microphone squealed. It was time for the judging to begin.

"Hey, kids." One of the several judges was speaking, and it was obvious that he could care less about what he was doing. "We judged your food. Wanna know who got what place or what?"

There was some whooping and hollering in response. Hey, how could you blame them? The boys were competitive and the girls wanted to show off their cooking; 'nuff said.

"Okay. Starting off with honorable mentions…"

The man listed off two Cabins, numbers one and six, each receiving a tiny pin for their efforts.

"Now, for the first, second and third places. Our main gourmet judge will announce these winners." The mic was handed over to the gourmet judge, a man who was wearing a strikingly blue suit decorated with various foods. Well, no, the food wasn't real, but it was enough to make Gohan start drooling again.

The man coughed once, tapping the top of the microphone, before talking. "Hellloooo, Orange Star High! I bet you all can't wait to find out who's won what! Well, we'd better get to it. We'll begin with the cabin that's taking home third place…"

A small cart that was loaded with trophies rolled out onto the stage, the third place prizes being in front for receiving. "Third place goes to Cabin #10! Their food was exquisite; the spaghetti dish, sure to surprise many, had a slightly tangy taste in its sauce; the meatballs were juicy and delicious, not dry and hard as they can become if one is not careful. Also, the salad that accompanied was delightful, the lettuce being very crunchy and appealing to all who gave it a try."

The members of Cabin #10 walked up to the stage, each being given a trophy before returning to their seats. The judge nodded approvingly, before talking once more. "Second place will be awarded to… Cabin #3! Their dish was a wonderful steak marinated with a spicy sauce, accompanied by mashed potatoes, which had a dash of herbal spicing in the potatoes to bring out the taste. The steak was tender but not so much so as to lose the taste; perfect, rather! The potatoes also were commendable, being full of exotic tastes that varied with each bite. An impressive concoction!"

Several members of Cabin #3 waved their trophies in the air triumphantly, smiling at the applause, before retaking their seats. Now, everyone was on the edge of their seats, the girls grinning madly in hopes of a win, the boys now anxious to get back to the Cabin. After all, they did want to get ready for the tournament which was supposed to take place tomorrow…

"Okay, now that those are over and done with, time for the best of the bunch; the first place winners!"

A cheer arouse from the crowd. Nodding approvingly, the gourmet judge continued. "First place, this year, will be awarded to a spectacular dish. The cabin that created this is very talented; whoever made the additions of specific spices and various fruits and vegetables is brilliant, I must say! The winner for this year's Baking Contest is Cabin number sev--"

Rob stopped the cook, tapping him on the shoulder before whispering into his ear while handing him a piece of paper. The judge frowned, placing a hand over the microphone, reading the paper before responding, apparently displeased. Gesturing with both hands to the crowd, Rob eventually persuaded the man to continue.

"Ah, excuse the interruption. Anyways, the winner this year is…" The judge paused, looking down at the paper in his hand. "Cabin #8!"

Erasa blinked as the Cabin that won jogged up to the stage, each grabbing one of the trophies for first place. Leaning back, she poked Sharpener on the side. "Uh, wasn't he about to say _seven?_ I mean, he said sev, and sev does not go with eight."

"Really now," Sharpener drawled sarcastically, not caring a bit. He just wanted to get back to the Cabin so he could do his 'before-fight' ritual, which consisted of lots and lots of push-ups, sit-ups, food and sleep.

"Yeah, that's just weird…" Videl crossed her arms over her chest, now looking suspiciously at Rob. It didn't look like the gourmet judge wanted to do as the Head Counselor said, but was forced to due to the fact that he was at a level that was inferior to that of the Counselor. "Don't you think so?"

Gohan looked to Videl, slightly startled, before nodding slowly. "Yeah, sure…" he muttered sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. He hadn't exactly been listening; he'd been busy delighting in the wafting scent of the many foods that still wafted through the Main Hall.

Rob retook his place at the podium, eyes scanning the crowd before landing on Videl. He frowned a little; why wasn't she more upset? What surprised him even more was that she was looking back at him, with a _glare_ even.

Grumbling to himself, he shook his head. The girl was supposed to be pathetically crying, in pain; he was to be the savior, one who reassured her in her time of need and that would give her an award with he considered to be priceless. Yes, exactly _that,_ you hentais.

Hey, wait, wasn't he at the podium for a reason? Blinking rapidly, the man cleared his throat before the snickering crowd of students uncomfortably, before tapping the microphone.

"Uh, was just waiting for y'all to settle yourselves on down," he muttered, before continuing. "Anyways! Since all the winners have been announced, everyone, winners and _losers_," Rob shot a significant look in Videl's direction. He cursed to himself, realizing that it hadn't phased the girl at all; instead, another girl in the back of the room burst into tears.

"Err, yeah. Just, go back to your Cabins or something. See y'all tomorrow morning, kiddies, bright and early! Don't forget Hercule, the world's savior, will be coming to host the fighting tournament tomorrow!"

A roar of approval came from the crowds as they bolted from their seats, running for the Cabins. The boys to prepare for the big fight, the girls to pout over their loss or gloat about their win.

Fortunately for the two boys that tagged along behind Videl and Erasa, the girls weren't upset. Erasa looked only mildly irritated, thinking that that 'stupid man with icky hair' had cheated them out of a fair win, while Videl seemed troubled.

As they turned into the Cabin, Gohan took several long strides to catch up to Videl as Erasa ran for the shower, Sharpener going for the weights in his room instead. The demi-Saiyan tailed Videl into her room and she was about to begin changing into her pajamas when she finally realized that he was there.

"Ack, Gohan!" she shrieked, yanking her shirt back down as the young man blushed a deep crimson. "Why are you following me?!"

Scratching the back of the head, the Saiyan looked sheepish. "You looked upset, and I thought you wanted to talk or something…"

Videl blinked azure eyes once, than relaxed as a small smile crept onto her face. _Aww, he was worried about how I was feeling! That's soooo sweet!_ After she thought this, she made a mental note to slap herself once he left; she was beginning to even think like Erasa.

"Well… yeah, I'm upset, and I wouldn't mind talking with you about it if you wouldn't mind listening."

Gohan grinned and nodded, taking a seat on the bed while clasping his hands in front of him. "Hey, that I can do!" he joked.

Grinning back in return, Videl took a seat next to her friend, leaning back on the mattress with her palms face-down on it to support her weight. "Well, it began like this…"

Rob flung his chef's hat into the corner of the room, soon following up by chucking his apron in the general direction. Why oh _why _didn't that girl notice him in the way he wanted her to?!

The looks she gave him weren't of a nature he was expecting. Instead of complete and utter devotion, he saw instant dislike; instead of admiration and wonderment, there was the displeasure and laughter at what he considered to be his genius. Growling under his breath, Rob took up a trashcan and whipped it across the room into the wall, merely sneering when the plastic material shattered. That girl didn't understand who she was refusing.

All she saw was that… that _boy,_ with the gravity-defying hair and the habit of eating tons of foods at a time. That idiotic, shy, mild-mannered… What was his name? Oh, right. Gohan. He'd looked the kid up in the files a few days back just to see who his competition was, and he had to admit, it didn't look like much.

Taking a seat on the corner of his bed, Rob rubbed the side of his head wearily. How to get Videl to go to him was running through his head; he had to make her his. He just _had_ to. The benefits would be so much, Hercule would be an adoring -- and rich -- father-in-law, and everything would be good and well. If Videl wouldn't come to him willingly, he'd make her. He would.

And to do this, he would chuck his only other competition from the rink, toss him into a trashcan and compact the freak. That boy was sure to enter the tournament tomorrow. No matter how stupid he seemed, he knew how boys thought, how they worked, and had worked with them for years. He knew that the kid would either be wanting to strut his stuff or would be pressured into the job. It was a guarantee that this Goham or Gohad, whoever, would be there.

Rob stood once more, rolling a fighting glove onto his hand as he grinned evilly.

"Oh, what fun it will be to tear you apart," he began, fist recoiling back slowly as he faced the wall; "piece, by, _piece!_" Lunging forward, his fist shot towards the wall. With a loud, sickening crack, the wood gave before his hand, splinters of wood flying through the air.

An air of ferocity and jealousy about his form, Rob merely smirked, turning away from the newly formed whole in the wall. While he may not look it, he was incredibly strong for a human due to… modifications.

"He _what?_ Are you--"

"Yeah, I'm completely serious. No joke!" Videl held her hands before her in the air as she gave a small shrug. "Why would I lie about something like th--wait, no. How would I think up something that _idiotic?_"

Gohan paused, than smiled weakly, nodding. "Yeah, you're right." He heaved a sigh while his rational mind wondered why he was feeling even remotely jealous--he was actually very, very irritated about the whole thing--then continued staring at the ground before Videl poked him on the shoulder.

"Err, Gohan? You didn't die on me, did you?"

The teenager hesitated, than realized that it was his sudden change of attitude, along with his silence, that had given Videl reason to think his brain had left the building. Rubbing the back of his neck, he nodded, trying to force a small grin.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Just spaced, y'know?"

Eyebrow raised suspiciously, Videl returned the nod with a slow one of her own. "Sure, Gohan. Sure."

_What's up with him? He looks ready to jump off a cliff._

"Videl, I hafta go get ready for that big thing tomorrow, okay? I just wanna get some sleep…" Gohan hoped that she wouldn't see through the lie; he really didn't need any preparation since he wasn't even going to participate. It was more a matter of him wanting to get away from the girl that was currently on his thoughts, since he didn't exactly know what he thought of her to begin with.

Videl looked a little surprised, before grinning smugly. "You're entering, Gohan?"

"Well, u-uh, not exactly…"

"Oh, c'mon, it'll be fun!" _Really fun when I get to spar you, too,_ she added mentally while her smile grew wider.

"Not really."

She was prepared. Videl instantly took on a sad expression, lips in a full-pout. "Gohaaaaan!"

_Oh, man. She did not just… She didn't--she did!_ "O-okay," Gohan stammered out. Within several seconds after he realized what he'd said he paused, than slapped himself on the forehead. Why did the stupid puppy-face work on him when Videl did it, anyways?

Laughing, the raven-haired girl patted Gohan on the back as she stood up, walking from the room. "No worries, Gohan, none at all. Actually, you might have to worry when you get around to sparring against me." With a wink she slipped out of the door, leaving a stunned Saiyan sitting on the bed.

It took the teen several moments to collect his scattered thoughts and when he did, he was shocked. _Does she think I'm Saiyaman… again?! I mean, it seemed like she'd totally forgotten about the martial arts deal but I guess not… and, and! Earlier, she called me Superboy… and she only does that to Saiya--ohhh, rats!_

Pounding his fist repeatedly against the palm of his other hand, he gritted his teeth to keep from yelling out his frustrations. Honestly, he wouldn't really mind if Videl knew, but he was terrified of what she'd do with the information--and him. After all, if she knew, she could blackmail him to heck and back or attempt to beat the crap out of him, considering that he had supposedly taken away the limelight when she'd been on a mission.

_But she did apologize for getting so mad at your Super-self, and she did explain what was up,_ his inner voice argued. Gohan sighed, shaking his head. Even though a part of him believed that everything would be okay if she knew, he still wouldn't tell her. It'd be easier for the both of them if she didn't know.

Gradually pulling himself to his feet, Gohan stumbled from the girls' room to the boys', relieved that Sharpener had gone outside to continue his training. Falling face-first onto his bed, he rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling.

_Dende, why do you have to make things so hard for me?_

Next morning was, to say the least, stressful.

Well, not to him of course, but to his honored assistants. He had them carry the baggage from plane to plane before, until he found a suitable jet, and then they were on a flight to take them to their destination in which he'd have to strut his stuff for a bunch of adoring fans.

Yep, that's right; he was Satan, Hercule Satan, and he was preparing to enlighten high school students on the true-meaning of a savior of the world. In fact, he'd show them just what he was made of, and would hopefully pick up a few new students along the way. Yeah, that's right, more kids who'd follow in his footsteps and who would probably cling to his each and every word with an insanely large grin that dripped of respect.

"Ah, this looks like it's going to be a great day!" Hercule stretched his arms back, cracked his neck, than sauntered towards the camp which was appropriately named after himself. "And do you know why it's going to be such a great day, Lott and Ment?"

The two body-guards clothed in black, while clutching several suitcases in their arms, clenched their teeth as the one in front spoke up. "Sir, my name's Scott and he's Brett."

"Oh, right, Smock. But, do you know why it's going to be such a great day, Bread?"

The second body-guard, who stood behind Scott, rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses and grunted in response.

"Because I'm here! Aha, ha ha! I made a funny!"

Scott and Brett looked to each other, sighed, than looked back to their boss before them. It was going to be a long, and painful, five minutes.

Fortunately for the boys, they reached the quarters that Hercule would be staying in for the last two days of the camping trip, and were able to drop off the luggage before high-tailing it to be Main Hall, leaving Hercule to examine himself in the full-length mirror that hung in his room--well, one of them, anyway.

The large man heaved a sigh of contentment as he flexed one of his arms, wiggling his eyebrows for effect. "Ooh, yes, you are so great!" he cooed at himself. "Oh, yes you are! Ooooh, yes you areeee!"

There was a cough from the door, and Hercule paused in his self-admiration. Looking to where the sound came from, he realized that someone had entered his room and was now waiting patiently by the door. Hercule shrugged, flashed one more award-winning grin in the mirror's direction, before flouncing towards the door.

"I'm a-comin'! Hold your horses!"

"This, my children, is a great day!"

Rob stood valiantly at the podium, a single clenched fist raised as he shook it once.

"A very, very great day this is! A day in which we can compete in a manner that shows how strong we are! How brave we are! How… manly," he shot a significant look in Videl's direction; "we are! And now I, with great, great, esteemed pleasure, introduce you to the magnificent, wondrous, powerful savior of the world; Hercuuuule!"

A roar of applause echoed through campgrounds as the burly man took his place at the center of the raised stage that stood in a large clearing. He raised his two large hands for silence, which was eventually granted. It was then that he cleared his throat with a low cough, and began to talk.

"Hey, all! I'm here, your _champion!_"

Clapping and whistles could be heard in the crowd before silence came about once more.

"It is today that you, the future of this world, will be able to show what you've got! It is today that you, who may have not ever received recognition before even though you deserve it, will be able to get that which you should!"

Another round of applause.

"And, today, ladies and gentlemen, not only will the finalists of the tournament get awarded with money and recognition, but also, a free months' worth of classes with me!"

It was then that many boys in the audience leapt to their feet, whooping and hollering at the top of their lungs.

"So, kids, let's see some real fightin' out there! Let's rummmmblllleeee!"

The arena exploded into cheers as Hercule descended from the podium, a smug grin upon his face. Dang, he was good. Even though technically it was his speech writer that was the brilliance behind the mask, he was _still_ damn good.

As Hercule took his seat in the main stands that stood before the raised platform, the contenders walked to the boards. The names had been submitted before Hercule had entered and, while the speeches had taken place, the fights had been planned.

Sharpener smirked as he cracked his knuckles, seeing who he was to contend against. Some kid named Skylar; he knew about him and, thanks to his sources, had plenty of information. The kid had entered primarily to kick his ass and he'd been lucky in getting who he was going for. Ever since freshmen year, he'd been harboring a crush on Erasa. Unfortunately for Skylar, Erasa had never known he'd existed since he never had the guts to speak up until after she was happily going with Sharpener. By junior year, Skylar was known to be a loud smart-ass that had no problem with chasing the ladies, especially those that were taken. This gave Sharpener enough reason to want to beat him down and take him out.

Videl, on the other hand, had Yugisho. She shrugged inwardly; she was pretty lucky, going up against one of the guys she was on friendly terms with from school. They had physical education together and talked a little. At least there'd be no reason to want to kill the kid.

Gohan, meanwhile, was attempting to gulp down the lump in his throat. _Dominic? … Dominic?! Why in the heck do I gotta spar Dominic? For cryin' out…!_ Gohan shot a meaningful glare in the direction of the sky as he inwardly cursed Dende's rotten prank. Out of all people, he had to spar the football captain 1. He didn't know much about him except that the guy was a perv, hit on Videl too much for his liking, and that he thought Gohan was an unbelievable dork.

_Dende, I swear, if you ever come down here for a visit, I'll get you!_

Naturally, Gohan was going to have to fight last. From the way Videl was looking at him, he could tell she wished she had his place. After all, she was the one that had to put up with Dominic's constant flirting at school.

The late-comers finished filing into their seats at the sides of the platform, far enough back from the walls that ringed the area so that they had no worries of getting hit by a body that became airborne due to a powerful hit. The talking ceased about the arena as the announcer, also posing as the newscaster for S.N.D. 2 took his place in the center of the platform, microphone raised to his mouth as the camera-man

"Hey! It's great to be back for another sunny day at Camp Hercule, where the tournament is just about to begin! As you can see, fans of the famous Hercule at everywhere! In just a few, mere seconds, the tournament bell will ring, announcing the beginning of the tournament. I will be your announcer as well as newscaster for the event, giving you a live showing of the fight! Now – ah, well it looks like we're ready to go! Get ready, folks, this is sure to be an exciting show."

The bell clanged loudly as the stands erupted in applause, whoops and whistles.

"Time to begin! Our first contestants today will be Sharpener and Skylar! Both seniors at Orange Star High, its sure to be a good match – sources say that there's been a long-lasting feud between the two, regarding a certain love interest. Folks, this may get pretty personal. And now, if we may begin…!"

The pair approached the platform, both entering from opposite sides of the area. Stepping smoothly up the stairs, Sharpener's outfit was simple, identical to that which he wore for street brawls; a loose pair of jeans, a tight tank, and several wraps around each of his fists to keep the skin from tearing too much. Skylar wore something similar to that of his opponent, considering he had participated in several of the street fights as well.

Stopping at the center in the circle of the platform, each before their proper lines, they stanced. Sharpener grinned slightly as Skylar sneered, eyes narrowed.

"Time to take you out, bitch, and show your chick what she's been missin' out on."

"Keep your mouth shut, kid. Talk with your fists."

The announcer spun, dark sunglasses flashing as a ray of light rolled over their reflective surfaces. "One, two… Fight!" A loud gong rang through the arena.

As the two teenagers lunged at each other, Gohan buried his face into his hands. It was now, out of all times, that he remembered that he had left most of his gi at home.

By the time the fight was over, Skylar had suffered a broken nose, multiple cuts and slashes, bruises all over his frame and a jammed finger. Sharpener had a stubbed toe.

Grinning widely as he sauntered (with a slight limp) over to Erasa, Sharpener struck a quick pose. "No one's gonna take me away from you, babe," he announced as he before giving her a quick peck on the lips.

Giggling, Erasa nodded in a bubbly-like manner. "I know, Sharpy! Just next time, try not to stub your toe in the process of kicking the crap out of him, okay?"

"Not a problem!"

Videl couldn't help but smile cheerfully in the direction of the couple as she tugged on her gloves, checking to see that they were secured properly. They were adorable. She was distracted from the cute sight by Gohan, however, as she realized he was slapping his hand against his forehead repeatedly while mumbling under his breath.

Taking a seat next to him, she gingerly tapped his shoulder.

"Baka, baka, baka, ba – Videl!" Gohan hastily brought his hand back down, a sweat drop rolling down the side of his head. Well, if she didn't think he was crazy before, she probably did now.

"What's wrong?" she asked, tilting her head to the side with a quizzical look on her face.

Bowing his head, Gohan heaved a sigh. At least she didn't think he was crazy. "My…gi, I left it at home. My fighting gi," he finished, once again smacking himself half-heartedly upside the head with the palm of his hand.

"You mean you didn't know about the tournament?"

"No…"

Videl mentally hit herself. Of course he didn't know, he'd only transferred to Orange Star High recently. Not like he'd known what to expect at the annual trip to Camp Hercule.

"Actually," Gohan started, breaking into her thoughts. "I didn't forget all of it. I packed a pair of gi pants, since they're comfy and I sometimes wear them to sleep. I didn't think to bring the top part, though."

"Then just wear the pants." Videl tried to keep herself from grinning widely as she said this. After all, she had no complaints about the prospect of seeing Gohan without a shirt again. _Please just smile and nod, damn it! I need a break already!_

"Just the pants?" Gohan repeated, not fully understanding the concept of what she was saying.

"Yeah, just the pants. You know… Just, I dunno. You don't wanna get your other stuff dirty, do you?"

"Well, no –"

"So just wear the pants!" It was then that Videl hopped to her feet as her name was called, walking towards the door that led to the outside arena. "Wish me luck!"

A small smirk spread across Gohan's face in an odd change of character as he responded; "Not like you need it."

Turning slightly to flash a final grin in Gohan's direction, Videl stepped out into the open. A roar of approval was heard as she easily sauntered towards the platform, not paying any attention to the announcing that could be heard in the background.

"…our very own Satan Videl! She will be competing against Yugisho today, a fellow student of the city's heroine. Apparently, Yugisho is fairly experienced in martial arts as well, so we should be able to see a good fight for today!"

Coming to a stop at the center circle, Videl lined her feet with the slash mark that the circle into quarters, separating her from her opponent. As she stretched an arm behind her head, she nodded in Yugisho's direction.

"How's it going?" Yugisho asked as he stretched a calf-muscle, raising his head slightly to look to Videl.

"Pretty good, I've been taking it easy. And yourself?" She added casually, now swinging both arms at her sides to loosen the joints.

"Alright, I'd say. I got Keisha to promise me a date for when we get back." The teenager flashed a small grin as he slide into a stance, looking at Videl. "So try not to bash me up too badly, eh? I don't want to look like a wreck for our first night out."

Laughing, Videl followed suit as she moved into a stance of her own. "Done deal."

The gong sounded and the pair lunged at each other. Videl took the first opportunity of attack; it was a relaxed match, so she wasn't concerned about going all out on the guy she knew from 4th period. Besides, she really didn't think that Keisha, someone else she talked to occasionally, would appreciate it if she broke his nose.

She began by first swinging her first in an arc towards his neck, a predictable move that gave him plenty of time to react – had she been doing it in the first place. Instead, she drew that hand back before it would hit and jutted up with her second, fist clenched, to jab it at his stomach.

Yugisho had watched enough of her training matches with friends to expect it, even though he wasn't prepared for the speed at which it was executed. Barely dropping back out of reach, he stepped forward once more, curling his hand around her own before allowing his hand to move in a circular motion, brushing hers smoothly away. He continued, using his previous momentum, to send a quick chop towards her exposed neck with his free hand before turning rapidly, a spinning knuckle-punch darting towards her forehead.

_He sent them to the same side… Easy enough to block._ Reading his second attack as he was still moving with the first, Videl smoothly ducked under the chop of his hand, narrowly avoiding the first of the pair of attacks. The second she caught, twirling it around effortlessly before yanking him forward by the arm. Bending down, she allowed her second arm to continue the motion, dragging back on the arm that still held Yugisho, tossing him over her back. She was going to go for an easy win, and that would be by knocking him out of the ring.

Unfortunately for her, Yugisho caught himself before flying from the ring, instead springing off the edge to land before Videl. "You're not gonna get me outta here that easy!" he grinned, before sending a flurry of punches and kicks in her direction.

The exchange of blows and attacks continued for several minutes, each patiently testing the other's endurance. Once twenty minutes had passed, Videl could tell that Yugisho was beginning to tire. She couldn't blame him; she'd begun to increase the intensity and speed of each hit after the first ten minutes until it was at a pace that she'd normally train at, one that was meant to force the victim to either give in or pass out trying.

His attacks were getting slower and more gradual by the second, less sharp, and Videl found herself looking for an opening. She should be able to take him out easily soon, without any damage that would mess up his 'first date' with a new love interest.

As a fist followed closely by a roundhouse sped towards her, she begin the first of what she hoped to be the last exchange of blows. Ducking under the first of the two, she allowed it to swing over her head, narrowly missing her form itself. The second had slowed, due to the lack of power behind it, and was running at a reasonably slow pace.

Videl placed a hand on top of his leg, using it as a lever to leap into the air. She executed a single flip as his leg was forced down and he was caught off-balance; by the time she'd landed behind him on the edge of the rink, he had just begin to stumble.

Reaching forward she grabbed him by the back of the shirt, ducking her upper body down as she squared her shoulders. Rolling the joints as she flipped him over her back, she pulled back up quickly as she released Yugisho, flinging him gently into the air.

The man landed with a soft thump on the grass, breathing heavily as he stared to the sky in a dazed manner, still mildly oblivious to what had happened. It took the blare of the gong to wake him from his reverie, bringing him back to the present.

Dragging himself to his feet, he leaned against the edge of the platform as Videl quirked an eyebrow at him. "Tired already, Yugisho?" she mock-frowned. "Keisha wouldn't like to know that her date's too tired to take her out, y'know."

Panting under his breath, Yugisho grinned at Videl. "Hey, no worries," he shrugged. "For one, she'll probably give me a hug because she'll probably feel bad for me having to go up against mini-supergirl, and two, there's no way I'd miss out on a chance to take her somewhere!"

Rolling her eyes, Videl straightened as she walked back towards the back rooms. "A hug? How cute." She laughed at the expression on Yugisho's face as she re-entered the rooms for those that entered the tournament, narrowly avoiding getting tackled by Erasa first thing as she stepped past the curtain.

"Videl!" Erasa squealed as she launched herself at her friend a second time, catching her in a hug. "You were awesome out there, girl! You really kicked some guy-butt!"

"Erasa…" Videl gasped for air as the girl's hold around her frame remained tight. "Need… to… burrreeetthhh!!"

"Oh, oops!" Giggling, Erasa released her grip on Videl, trying not to laugh outright at the look on her friend's face. "Well, you still kicked butt even if you can't handle a hug here and there, so go you." Giving her the thumbs-up, she made her way back to her boyfriend who was still nursing an injured toe.

Videl, now able to breathe properly, cast a quick look around the room. Where'd Gohan go? After all, he did basically say that he expected her to win and she _did…_ now all she needed was her 'congratulations' from him, or something like that. So… where the hell _was_ he?!

A low voice behind her broke into her thoughts; "Hey, good job."

Gohan couldn't help but nod as he watched each of Videl's movements, seeing by the way she swept in such a relaxed manner that she was taking it easy for her opponent's benefit. As he tugged on his gi pants from within the changing room, he paused to watch a particular move that caught his interest as she first tried to drop him out of the ring, being unsuccessful.

_She's good,_ he realized for the first time. Well, he always knew she was good, but he'd never meant really good when he was thinking before.

Normally, just 'good' meant that she could do pretty well against a human. The kind of good he was talking about here was the kind that meant that she could hold her own against someone of his kind; a Saiyan. She had the skill, determination, the guts – exactly what was expected of the Saiyan race in order for them to survive.

_And, oh, we can't forget her pride,_ his inner voice added as a small grin appeared on his face. Sometimes the girl almost reminded him of Vegeta with the entire attitude that screamed out, 'I'm damn good and I know it! Try me if you dare!' to the world. He had to admit that he kind of liked it on her, considering that most of the teenaged girls he knew were too prissy to say that or just too busy worrying over their looks to want to get into that kind of stuff.

See now, Videl could be a challenge to him, and him to her. It would be a perfect situation.

A splash of water in his face brought him back from his trance as he glanced out the window again, just in time to see Videl fling her opponent out of the ring with a graceful movement, the match ending as soon as he hit the ground.

The crowd roared, and Gohan smiled again. Tying the sash around his pants as he left his upper-body and feet bare, he walked from the locker room to where he'd meet up with Videl and congratulate her on her win.

_Man… Videl's great._

"Hey, good job."

Videl spun around, startled before realizing just who it was that had appeared soundlessly before her. Her breath caught in her throat as she noticed – quite happily, by the way – that Gohan had taken her advice and had decided to only wear the pair of training pants.

"Um," she began, unsure of what to say next since her mind had gone conveniently blank. _Okay, what comes after 'um'?! Wait, wait… Close mouth, stop drooling, look away from Gohan's really, __**really**__ nice body, and then talk! _Yanking her gaze away from Gohan's form as her brain had suggested, she finally found the breath to continue. "Thanks," she finished, as her gaze helplessly traveled back to the chiseled body of her friend, Videl groaning inwardly. This was _not_ easy.

"Videl?" Gohan, leaning forward as he blinked curiously at Videl's blank expression, crossed his arms over his chest as he continued to lean forward. "Videl? Hello?"

Snapping out of her temporary moment of being in dreamy-land, Videl blinked, realizing that Gohan's face was directly in front of hers. Giving a small squeak she toppled backwards, falling awkwardly into a chair. Completely and obvious flustered, she glared up at Gohan.

"What was up with scaring me like that, Son Gohan? Not like I don't have enough nerves already with all the… uh, the… well, you know!" she yelled, gesturing wildly with her hands.

Confused, Gohan eyed her warily. "I'm sorry, I didn't think of that, it's just you blanked out on me there for a second. You had this weird smile on your face…"

_Oh, Kami. Please don't let him guess what I was thinking about…_

"Thinking about how it's gonna be if you win the tournament, huh?" Chuckling, Gohan straightened, arms remaining crossed over his form.

_Thank you, oh-mighty-person-who's-up-there. _Gradually, a well-used smirk spread across Videl's face. "If I win?" she repeated, as if Gohan didn't know what he'd said himself. "If? Hey, this isn't an 'iffy' matter. It's a 'yes, I'm gonna win and I'm gonna win it good' kinda matter."

"Eh?" Gohan quirked an eyebrow before narrowing his eyes playfully; a small, barely perceptible yet familiar tinge of an aqua-marine flash ran through his onyx-colored eyes. "Hey, you're going to be up against me, and you really shouldn't think it's gonna be all that easy."

"I shouldn't?" Videl's voice had a challenging tone to it that Gohan didn't miss. "What makes you think that?"

"Because." Stepping forward smoothly as Videl retreated in response, a predatory smile formed on Gohan's features. "I'm better than you think…" He stopped in his forward advance, now that the girl was pinned up against the wall. Slipping his arms around her waist he tilted forward, his lips gently brushing her cheek before he whispered into her ear; "A lot better." Grinning wickedly, he released her as he walked from the room with a slight swagger, his form vanishing as the curtain fell closed behind him.

Videl remained frozen in place, mouth agape as she leaned against the wall for support. What the hell had just happened there? He'd done it before, but this time – well, to think of it, it brought a certain encounter with a particular superhero to mind. But… Gohan? _Ahhh! Stop having bad thoughts! He's just too innocent – wait, scratch that. If that was innocent five seconds ago, then someone can beat the hell out of me. _Good Kami.

The girl walked from the room, barely noticing the odd looks she was getting from Erasa and Sharpener.

"I'm going to take a shower," she explained in a low voice, rubbing the side of her forehead as she finished the sentence with mumble; "A very, very cold one."

"Come on, kid, come on…" Rob muttered through gritted teeth. Gohan couldn't back out on the fights; if he left and didn't beat this Dominic boy, he'd never have a chance to go up against him. After all, he did have to show Videl who was the boss.

He continued rolling the bandages over his fists, but not after sliding in the brass knuckle-covers that would give a little 'boost' in the battle. Hey, couldn't hurt, could it?

_Well, it may hurt him, but not me. And that's what matters._ Chuckling under his breath to himself, Rob resumed his planning.

He was wishing and hoping that Gohan would be able to beat Dominic, or whoever. He already knew from the way the chart was drawn out that the boy would then advance on and, after several rounds, would go up against him. After all, he had every intention of getting into the finals. He was going to make sure that Gohan did as well.

Some of the contestants had been bribed; everyone that he thought may be going up against Gohan was offered money in exchange for giving in easily after faking a fight with the boy. The others and those that didn't agree, one being Dominic, would just have to be put away in the usual manner.

Rob finished tying the bandages over his fists, than stretched his arms back over his head. He'd heard that Gohan had some fighting experience, so he wasn't too worried. Chances are that he'd be able to make it past the few that hadn't been bribed, and then it would be his turn to take a whack at it.

_Boy, I'll be giving you more than a whack, _he thought with a snarl. _You'll be going down, and it's going to be painful as hell. You'll be wishin' that you were never born by the time I'm through with you._

"Hercule deserves only the best for a son-in-law. After all, all the fame and fortune should be rightfully mine. Besides… Videl's not such a bad catch." He spoke lowly to himself while gazing at his own form in the mirror, lazily flexing a muscle.

"She's hot, rich, and sexy – how can you go wrong? You can't. Which is why I'm going to make her mine."

A roar rose from outside, followed by whoops and hollers of cheering. Rob paused, taking a step away from the mirror to look to the window. Gohan had entered the arena; the fight was about to start.

_Let's see how you stack up against Dominic, little boy._

_Now why'd I do that?_ As Gohan had walked from the room, his sly, wicked grin was reduced to an all-out, adorable blush. His minds weren't on this Dominic kid as he walked towards the platform, his gait a slow one.

_I can't believe I… ugh._ Bopping himself on the forehead, Gohan shook his head once, trying to clear his thoughts. His Saiyan side was becoming more of a part of him and was beginning to show up more often without warning, even with small things. At least he didn't act like that all the time; otherwise he'd have a heart attack.

"She probably thinks I'm a freak now!" he muttered out-loud to himself.

"Hell, if I was anyone but you, I'd think so too."

Blinking, Gohan raised his head to gaze at the one who'd talk. Since he'd been deep in thought, he hadn't noticed that he'd made his way up the stairs onto the platform and was currently standing on his side of the small divider that separated the platform into two.

"Huh?"

Dominic ran a hand over his black hair that was slightly spiked – not anything like Gohan's, considering it was shorter and had to be spiked with gel – and that was bleached a pale yellow at the tips. He grinned darkly, eyes narrowed.

"You heard me, kid. Gohan, is it? Nice meeting the boy who's gonna get his brains beaten out. You've been around my girl too long, boy. I don't even see what the bitch sees in you. I'm gonna give you an example of what I do to premature teens when they get fresh around one of my chicks."

The football captain, Dominic, slid back into a stance. Loose shorts adorned his lower body while he had a tight muscle-shirt for a top. A cocky grin was on his face as he shook his fists before his face. "You gonna stand there all day, or y'gonna fight, ya wimp?"

_Ooh. That does it._ Gohan's features instantly hardened as his eyes narrowed to slits, a low growl emitting from the depths of his throat. There was a brief crackling at his clenched fists as he gradually allowed his legs to drop back, shoulders raised as his biceps flexed.

Following Dominic's lead as he too moved into a fighting stance, Gohan allowed a smirk to creep onto his lips as his eyes took on the trademark teal color. The sudden change flashed for a moment, before dulling slightly as the power level was kept at a minimal level.

While Gohan was pissed, he didn't want to kill the guy. All he wanted to do was smack him around a bit, and show him just what he was made of.

"Don't ever call her that." His voice was calm, controlled; inwardly, however, he was fuming in fury. "And she's never going to be yours unless she wants to be… and at the moment, I doubt that anyone would want to be with you."

The anger in Dominic's face only made Gohan's smug grin to widen and he spoke, loud enough to be heard over the sound of the gong that signaled the battle.

"Bring it."

**To be continued…**

**1: **Reminder: S.N.D. stands for Satan News Daily.

**2. **The character Dominic is from a previous story I wrote.

**Advertisements! **

'The Moment I Saw You Cry' – By Little Ricecake

**Commentary:** Heh, I just like this one… even though there's quite a bit of OOC-ness, it's well-written and is pretty dang funny at some points. And, plus, it's a G/V. How can that _possibly_ go wrong?!

**Author's Summary:** AU – He's the most popular guy in school and captain of the football team. She's the captain of the swim team and hates the guy's guts. Is there anything that can bring these two together? G/V

'What a Sight' – Daughter of Chaos

**Commentary: **I like this one too! Well, umm, obviously, since I'm advertising it and all. Anyways, if you like cute fics about how Gohan and Videl are doing when already together, check this one out.

**Author's Summary: **Our Favorite half Saiyan seems to be having a problem… What will it take to make the world a clearer place for Gohan? G/V fresh.


	8. Teenage Hormones and HungryHungry Gohans...

Field Trip To CampHercule

**Field Trip To CampHercule**

--

**Previous chapter…**

--

Following Dominic's lead as he too moved into a fighting stance, Gohan allowed a smirk to creep onto his lips as his eyes took on the trademark teal color. The sudden change flashed for a moment, before dulling slightly as the power level was kept at a minimal level.

While Gohan was pissed, he didn't want to kill the guy. All he wanted to do was smack him around a bit, and show him just what he was made of.

"Don't ever call her that." His voice was calm, controlled; inwardly, however, he was fuming in fury. "And she's never going to be yours unless she wants to be… and at the moment, I doubt that anyone would want to be with you."

The anger in Dominic's face only made Gohan's smug grin widen and he spoke, loud enough to be heard over the sound of the gong that signaled the battle.

"Bring it."

--

_Teenage Hormones and Hungry-Hungry Gohans'_

--

_Damn publicity stunts._ Videl, her face scrunched up in irritation, huffily took a seat next to her lounging father.

On her way to the showers, one of the reporters had stopped her and had begun to attempt to interview her on the previous battle that she'd had with Yugisho. She told him to buzz off and, when the reporter didn't, was about to punch him across the jaw when one of Hercule's many assistants stopped her.

The assistant who also happened to be a bodyguard, Scott, told her that her father wanted to have her sit by him. Of course, Videl had planned on refusing, but decided against it. She rarely liked any of her dad's assistants so she was pretty happy when Scott and Brett, two non-perverted nice guys who actually were friends with her because of her personality, got hired on. She didn't want to do anything that'd get either of them fired.

So, that was why she was now sitting next to her father as he flirted with some random bimbo groupie while having his alcoholic beverages served to him on a silver platter.

_I repeat; damn publicity stunts._

It was then that the cameras started flashing again, blinding her momentarily. She growled under her breath, trying to control her temper. After all, she didn't want another lecture from her dad once she got home about how his reputation was _very_ important and how she shouldn't do a single thing to endanger the vision he gave the public of him being a very caring and very powerful man.

_What bullshit._

Well, at least she got to watch Gohan fighting Dominic, the pervert who'd been on her case ever since freshmen year. Videl wasn't quite sure if that was a good thing, considering that one, she wasn't sure of how to think about Gohan at the moment and two, she had no idea if Gohan would even be able to take out Dominic. After all, the stupid kid was the freakin' football captain; of course he had muscle to that body of his.

_But Gohan has a lot more, from the looks of it. Did I mention it looks really nice…?_

Videl allowed a small, goofy grin to appear on her face before realizing just who she was thinking about. Squeaking quietly she covered her eyes, trying to get rid of the damn visions that were popping up in her head.

"Gohan? Innocent. Current thoughts of Gohan? Not so innocent. Argh, I'm gonna grow up to be an ecchi like Sharpener…"

"What, hey? It takes more than those kinda thoughts to become as great as me, Videl."

Videl yelped again, nearly toppling out of her chair as she thanked Kami that her dad was too preoccupied to notice her misstep.

"Sharpener… Erasa? The heck you two doing here?" she muttered, dusting off her shirt as she regained her balance.

"Visiting you!" Erasa bubbled brightly, all smiles. "Even though, from the sounds of it, you'd rather have some alone time with you-know-who…"

Sharpener laughed at the suddenly pale complexion of Videl's features. "I never knew you had it so bad! Sounds like Gohan just might get lucky tonight!"

Videl, whose eyes were wide as saucers before, instantly narrowed them as she growled. Getting out of her seat, she grabbed both Sharpener and Erasa by an arm as she yanked them into the equipment room that stood behind the specialized seating area for the honored guests of the tournament.

The two teens, caught by surprise by the sudden movement, stumbled into the room behind their raven-haired friend. Wincing as she slammed the door shut, they instantly took on innocent expressions as she spun around to glower at them.

Hands on her hips, her eyes flashed angrily as she snapped out at the pair; "What the hell was _that_ for?"

Blinking in a confused manner, Erasa tilted her head to the side. "What was what for?"

"That!" Videl shot an obvious look towards the seating area at which they had been in previously.

"That what?"

"Just… just… For crying out loud! That, god damn it, _that! _All of it!"

"All of wh--"

Sharpener cut off Erasa before she could piss Videl off anymore. "Hon. Babe." Leaning back, he whispered into her ear.

"Ooooh… I get it!" Erasa brightened for a moment before looking at Videl with a frown on her face. "Why didn't you say so?!"

_And I thought Gohan was the only one who was that oblivious,_ she inwardly grumbled to herself. Replacing her hands on her hip, she didn't respond, only continued to glower at the now cringing pair of teenagers that stood before her. She wanted an answer, and she wanted it _now._ It wasn't everyday that Satan Videl was heard mumbling random things about the school's hottie of the year.

"Videl, it's not like it's a big deal," Erasa eventually grumbled, frowning as she pouted. "After all, both me and Sharpy think you two would be a totally adorable couple. What's the big problem with us hearing you say exactly what we wanted to hear from you about Gohan?"

Videl, caught off-guard, blinked. "Huh?"

It was then that Sharpener broke in, deciding to explain the situation for Erasa. "Y'see, Erasa wanted to hook you guys up and I, being the exceptionally good boyfriend that I am, agreed to help. We tried hooking you guys up a few times but it really didn't work, and we were gonna try something else during the match if you two fought or something, but--"

"--We can tell you don't need the help," Erasa interrupted with a grin.

"What?" Videl was now incredibly embarrassed. They'd tried to play matchmaker with her and Gohan? Okay, not that she didn't mind the prospect of it being Gohan and all, but the fact that they had thought they'd be great together and stuff and had gone the extra mile was kind of… well, yeah. It was just plain embarrassing.

_And now they know I'm interested – very interested. That means Erasa's going to stop at nothing to get us alone together for even a second, and Sharpener will be making perverted comments whenever he gets the chance in front of us. Great. Juuuust great._

"You know what we said, Del! But no worries, hey? I mean, not like trying to hook you two up was a bad thing."

Videl was ready to burst with embarrassment when Erasa suddenly squealed and grabbed her arm, dragging her to a nearby window where Sharpener was already positioned.

"Oh, my gosh! Look at Gohan _go!_"

Eyes widening as she viewed the scene before her, Videl didn't even notice her jaw drop.

_And he's damn good at martial arts too… Videl, you've got it bad._

"Bitch!" Dominic launched into the air, diving towards Gohan with a flurry of punches at his disposal. He flung a hard one to the right, followed quickly by a left-right double punch, then finished up with a rough side-kick that ended with a reversed hook. You could say he was surprised when he realized none hit.

"Having trouble?" Gohan smirked, his eyes shadowing as he narrowed them to better view his opponent. White-teeth flashed in his smug grin as he dropped back from Dominic, releasing the foot that he'd held captive after blocking the multiple hits.

He'd take his time with this one.

Circling slowly around the now infuriated football captain, he kept his fists loosely clenched before him, in obvious relaxation. From experience, he knew that nothing was more annoying than realizing that your current rival was completely at ease. It worked.

Dominic's temper flared and he once again swiped his hand over his dark hair, a gesture that seemed to only add to his over-confident disposition. He stepped back as well, moving to the side as he mimicked Gohan's movements, following them.

"Trouble? None at all, just getting started. Don't get your hopes up, boy," he sneered through a mocking grin. "The only one who's in trouble is you, since you're too scared to make an attack!"

"Too scared to attack? Good one." Gohan simply returned the grin, his eyebrow arching. "It's more like trying to give the audience a good show. If I actually wanted to beat you quickly, I could. But five-minute fights are boring, no?"

"Huh." Dominic easily swung his fists before his face, keeping them clenched. "It looks like that idiotic Sharpener and his mouth have gotten to you. I guess I'll just have to take you out fast then, you're not worth the time!"

It was then that Dominic began his second set of attacks. Gohan only rolled his eyes as he continued to unconsciously block the maneuvers; this match was going to go nowhere. At least the audience was probably getting a good show, one that he was going to end relatively soon. Know why?

Dominic was making disrespectful ass-like comments about what he'd do with Videl after winning, and Gohan, being a son of Chi Chi, was very much against these ass-like comments; especially since they were being made about _Videl_. But first? Humiliation.

The corner of Gohan's lip twitched slightly as he eventually allowed his fists to drop to his sides, only moving his upper-body to dodge each swing of Dominic's fists. Ooh, this was getting to be really, really sad. He was gonna break out laughing unless Dominic hit him – oh.

Gohan was knocked out of his bored irritation by a light whack across the jaw, blinking once as he straightened. He looked to Dominic who had turned around and was in the process of waving both hands in the air triumphantly.

"Yeah, that's right, folks! Dominic is the man! Dominic _is_ the man!" he hollered, shaking a fist above his head.

"Uh, hmm." Gohan regarded his rival's back for a moment before shrugging and tapping him on the shoulder.

"Huh, what?" Dominic turned and nearly fell over backwards as he realized that the spiky-haired teen hadn't, in fact, been floored, but was instead standing right behind him. "Eep!"

Gohan grinned crookedly before slowing drawing his fist back, taking his time as the football captain stayed in place with a dazed look on his face, before rapidly flinging the clenched fist forward.

Dominic's eyes widened as he squeaked. "Uh oh…"

With a loud smash, the fist connected with the teen's face and he flew backwards, whizzing through the air before crashing into a wall. He slid down its surface to land with a thump on the grass, blinking quickly before nearly bursting into tears.

"My… _nose!_"

Dominic was carried off on a stretcher by several doctors, all the while screeching and holding his now very broken and very bloodied nose with both hands.

Gohan grinned shyly, returned to his usual self, as he walked back towards the dressing rooms, the roar of the crowd deafening. Let's not forget that the Gohan Fan Club had all come to support their favorite boy on campus, regardless of whether they'd gone to Camp Hercule to begin with.

He hadn't hit Dominic hard, just enough to show him just who he was messing with, and what he was capable of. He didn't think the captain would need much more warning… Then again, Gohan didn't know Dominic too well, did he?

Gohan stepped cautiously past the threshold of the training room, not quite sure of what to expect. If he was lucky, Videl and the others had completely forgotten that he had to fight and had missed the match. But then again, Gohan wasn't exactly the lucky-type.

First thing he saw before being bowled over was one very astonished Videl, a goofily-grinning Sharpener, and a screeching Erasa that was running straight for him.

"Gohan!" Videl managed to get out as she kneeled next to Gohan's head, staring at him with wide eyes as she completely ignored the blonde-haired girl that was still busy babbling about Gohan's win while practically jumping on his knocked-over body.

"I didn't know that you knew how to fight that well…" She trailed off, looking at him expectantly with a slightly raised eyebrow.

Gohan blinked, gave a nervous laugh and attempted to scratch the back of his head. "Well, uh, it was nothing?" He shrugged weakly, hoping it'd be a good enough explanation.

The corner of Videl's mouth twitched and she was about to launch a barrage of questions that Gohan was obviously dreading when Sharpener, in a moment of oblivious-ness, butted in.

He bopped Gohan on the side of the arm with a light punch, grinning widely all the while. "Gohan, my man! I knew you could kick his ass the entire time, didn't I, babe?"

Erasa quirked an eyebrow while she smirked, deciding not to respond to the question.

The blonde-haired teen laughed nervously, a sweatdrop running down the side of his temple as he glanced to his girlfriend before looking back at Gohan. "Well, maybe I was a little scared for you here and there, but you did good, didn't ya? Yes, you did!"

Sharpener nodded his head once quickly before deciding to make a quick exit after realizing that both girls were giving him the eye, only to be followed by his still evilly-grinning girlfriend.

"Well, that was interesting." Videl placed her hands on her hips, looking to the door as Gohan managed to stumble to his feet.

Casting a glance in the raven-haired girls' direction, Gohan started tip-toeing towards the backdoor of the training room, hoping to make an easy escape. After all, he could tell that Videl was very curious as to how he beat the football captain and that he wouldn't be able to get out of it without some physical damage.

"Hold it right there, buddy."

Gohan squeaked as a hand grabbed his ear, yanking him back. Unfortunately, since he was pulled pretty much off balance by the sudden pain from the side of his head he toppled over backwards, landing on Videl.

"Damn it! Gohaaaan, muscle weighs a lot!" Videl attempted to shove Gohan off her body as the boy in turn tried to scramble up, only resulting in standing partially up for a few seconds before completely falling down again, this time slamming his head into the wooden floor.

"Piece of… ow… Kami…" Gohan groaned, rubbing his now sore head with an indentation in his spikey-black hair where he had hit himself. Sitting up, he heaved a sigh, shaking his head to clear the fuzziness. Now, why was the floor squirming?

"_Gohan!_" Videl, finally tired of having a body sitting on her stomach, yanked one leg out from under Gohan and kneed him with it while shoving at him with both hands.

Once again, Gohan fell over, this time hitting his head into one of the table's wooden legs.

"Gaaah!" he yelped as he scooted away from his wooden attacker, again clutching at his head with both hands. "Ow, ow, ow!" he whimpered, rubbing his head harder now as he attempted to get rid of the growing bruises on his form. "It huuuurts!"

Videl, blinking, tilted her head to the side as she regarded Gohan with a skeptical glance. So he was the one who had just defeated the football captain in what looked to be a very heated match? Talk about split personalities.

"Gohan…" she began as she straightened, crossing her arms before her chest. "It really isn't—"

"Owwww, owwww, owwww!" Gohan continued, now with a large frown on his lips as he poked the side of his head.

"Gohan, it's not so—"

"The pain!"

"—not so—"

"Kami, why are you so—"

"_Shush!_" Rolling her eyes, Videl plucked a bag of ice from the refrigerator at her side and took a seat behind Gohan, slapping his hands away to rest the bag against the bruise on his head. "As I was saying… it's really not that bad, Gohan!"

Blinking his now wide eyes, Gohan tilted his head slightly and attempted to look at Videl from where he was sitting, which turned out to be impossible due to the fact that he wasn't quite capable of turning his head completely around.

"Stop moving your head!"

"Okaaaay!" The demi-Saiyan froze in place, not budging a muscle – he really didn't feel like facing the wrath of Videl at the moment.

He had to admit that he didn't mind being fussed over by Videl and was starting to actually enjoy the attention, almost purring before realizing that it probably would be pretty embarrassing if Videl noticed how much he was enjoying the experience.

Videl paused, pulling the bag of ice away from the teenager's head. "There's not even a bruise," she muttered thoughtfully, one eyebrow quirked in suspicion. I mean, Gohan had announced that it was painful and he did hit his head pretty hard, but there wasn't any evidence of it.

_Son Gohan, there's just something about you…_

"Uhh, I have a hard head." Gohan grinned sheepishly as stumbled to his feet, rubbing the back of his head in a Goku-like manner.

The girl got to her feet as well, looking to Gohan once more with a disbelieving frown before changing it to a slight smirk, regaining her familiar expression. "So that'd explain why when Dominic hit you in the face you didn't even go down, right?"

"Wha… Uh, I—no?" he stuttered, instantly going into a defensive panic mode. "I never got hit in the face!"

"Oh, yes you did," Videl shot back, before pointing in the direction of a TV screen. "You see that? They show the entire match there and do close-ups and all. Also, it's all recorded, so I can pull up the part when you were punched smack in the face whenever I want. So don't even deny it, Son Gohan!" The girl grinned triumphantly at Gohan, folding her arms over her chest. "So now, explain why it didn't hurt."

_Oh, crap. Crap, crap, craaaap! Gah! Technology these days… _Gohan hesitated for a moment before brightening. "He doesn't punch very well!"

Videl rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. It looked like it was a pretty hard punch, Gohan."

"It may have _looked_ that way but it was actually terrible form, you see," began the teenager, raising a finger. "First off, he wasn't right on in aim – it actually just grazed the skin so it didn't really hurt a bit. Secondly, he was using more of a street-brawl type of fighting style in which he gets his power from the swing of his fists, not really from within himself. Those two faults let up to a faulty attack which looked painful but actually wasn't."

Videl, slack-jawed, stared at Gohan with wide eyes before shaking herself out of her temporary shock to grumble mentally; _Once a nerd, always a nerd. And a cute one at that…_

Not yet realizing that she had just thought to herself that Gohan was cute she merely growled at the boy in front of her, only crossing her arms more tightly across her chest in response. "Do you have to take everything so … so … Arg, do you just hafta calculate everything?!"

Gohan, now worried, frowned in momentary confusion. "But Videl, if you want to gain an advantage over your foe in battle, you need to not only use your physical talent but also your head to calculate your opponent's technique in order to retain the upper hand."

"Yes, but…" Videl shook her head with a sigh, restraining the urge to bury her face in her hands. "Can't you ever just sit back and let loose, not think about what you're doing and just do it?"

"Just do it?" Gohan repeated the words once, as if in disbelief. He had never really considered going into battle without knowing exactly what it was he wanted to do, and had never done so – except for once, when he had gotten a bit out of control.

Actually, not just a bit. Going psychopathically-flirtatiously-aggressive was more than just a 'bit out of control'.

_Damn Saiyan side._

Gohan considered his answer for a second before picking the safest choice of the day; "You mean that Nike commercial?"

Videl's expression immediately went blank as she blinked numerous times. "What did you—" she started in a monotone, before blinking and, with a scowl, turned away. "Baka," she muttered under her breath as she paced to the other side of the room.

The demi-Saiyan's eyes followed the girl for a moment before he shrugged, flashing a grin at her turned back. She was pretty cute when she was annoyed.

_Erk, I didn't just think that…_

Fortunately for Gohan, his self-inflicted embarrassment was interrupted by a loud announcement that could be heard echoing throughout the stadium.

"_And now, for our next contestants!"_

Cracking his knuckles, he ran a hand back over his head, a sneer forming on his face. This was it. The first of many battles, all of which would end with him the victor… With the money, the fame, and the girl.

All his.

Rob smirked as he slowly drew up his fists in front of him before mockingly beckoning the man before him with a slight quirk of his finger. His opponent was one of the boys that he'd seen hanging out with the jocks, a football player to be sure. The guy was cocky, a player, and an all-out popular guy of Orange Star High.

And he was going to go down quickly – but not painlessly.

In the back of his mind he knew that his original intent was only to hurt Gohan, but it had intensified to something more. He knew that some of the students mocked him as he took on the role of the oblivious and pervertedly dorky counselor, laughing behind his back as if they thought that he would never know.

But he knew plenty, and grew to detest it, taking on the view that as the stronger, he had the right to be respected, feared, and worshipped. After all, he wasn't your average human being.

It happened during a time that now came back only as jumbled memories to him but he could recall the part before which he became better than before, a modified being of sorts. Improved, revamped, changed. Something other than what he had been before.

It gave him something that others didn't have and he was going to use it to his advantage. It would be with this power that he had, this strength, he would tear the boy that stood between him and his claim to fame apart limb by limb, making the torture unfathomable to the average mind. The boy would die; If not before the crowd which would be cheering them on, then later, when he was alone. He would die… slowly.

_Whatever gets in my way dies,_ Rob thought with a sneer as he envisioned the future death of Son Gohan . "And because you already have, don't be surprised when I come to kill you."

With a snarl, Rob lunged towards his unsuspecting opponent with lightning fast reflexes, fists slamming powerfully into tender skin.

_Weakling._

"_Hahahahaaaa!_ I am, the great and fantastic _Hercule!_ Take a picture!"

Hercule struck a pose, one arm outstretched in front of him while the other did the same behind him, standing tippy-toe on one foot while the other was suspended midair.

"Aren't I pretty! … Well, aren't I?!"

Scott (your friendly neighborhood body-guard) shot a look at Brett and sighed before glancing back to his boss, adjusting his shades on his eyes. "You look very pretty, sir."

"Of course I do! _Hahahahahahaaaa!_"

Brett rolled his eyes as he kept his hands clasped behind his back. _Sometimes I don't think he pays us enough._

After Sharpener had gotten Erasa to stop smirking all evil-like at him ('cause it kinda freaked him out a little) they had decided to sit down somewhere away from everyone else and, surprisingly enough, not make-out but instead discuss the current events going on in Sector Gohan-Videl.

"Well, we know Videl likes Gohan so far," Erasa muttered once, a thoughtful look on her face, "but we're not sure about Gohan yet."

"Who knows? After all, you can never tell with those shy little lock-everything-up guys that think its more fun to be stepped on than be the stepper," Sharpener decided as he sipped at his Coke.

Erasa paused, raising an eyebrow in Sharpener's direction. "Stepped on, stepper?... Sharpener, dear, I think you've had too much Coke."

"What you talkin' 'bout?! This is only my fifth 'un!"

"Hon, I thought we talked about this… Five sodas is not good calorie-wise and besides, Pepsi's the way to go. Dump the Coke."

"Aww, but…!"

"I _said,_ dump the stinkin' Coke!"

The Coke bottle found itself being chucked through the air to land with a plop in the trashcan.

Erasa gave a satisfied nod and continued with her evaluation with the current situation between the hopefully couple-to-be.

"So, yeah, anyways. How can we find out if Gohan likes Videl? We never see anything really happen between them besides a lot of blushing on Gohan's part… But then again, he's almost always blushing about something. Did I mention it's adorable?"

Sharpener rolled his eyes. "Yes, dear, multiple times. Doesn't mean I'll start blushing on the hour for you, though… But don't ya think we ought to just let 'em alone and see if any sparks spark up there? I mean, not like we got together in public view."

Erasa glanced to Sharpener, blinking multiple times. "Uh, Sharpener. Almost everybody knew that I liked you and that you liked me before we did, and we hooked up on the stage at the dance in full-view and everyone clapped and whistled and yadda yadda."

Sharpener's expression went blank. "What's that got to do with anything?"

The girl blinked again and smacked her forehead with her hand, looking away as she muttered under her breath; "Sometimes I think I'm going out with a wall."

Regaining her composure, Erasa decided to ignore Sharpener's last comment. "Maybe you're right about letting them alone for awhile… We gotta get them to be alone together though, they almost never do that. At least not for a long enough time for them to get anything done."

With a mischievous grin, the girl pulled out a pencil and paper and began scribbling down instructions as Sharpener stood, peeking over her shoulder.

"What you doin'?" he asked, frowning slightly in confusion.

The girl flashed a triumphant and determined grin in her boyfriend's direction. "Get ready for Operation Gohan and Videl, the Success!"

Gohan made his way out towards the fighting platform, his name having been announced for his fifth match. He didn't even know the guy he was going against but he didn't really care – he was too busy wondering what in the heck had happened during one of the last few matches.

He hadn't cared enough to watch it and instead spent the time attempting to dodge Videl's verbal accusations, then left to muddle and think up new excuses. But now he was regretting not watching the last fight, 'cause apparently it had been a pretty bad one.

One of the contestants, the one who obviously lost, had to be taken out on a stretcher. Also, there was a small break taken in the fighting so that several men could mop up the some blood that had fallen onto the platform, attempting to take away any risks of slipping.

The boy was a little more than surprised that any one of the contestants would actually go beyond just beating his competitor but would also go to the length to hurt him more than necessary. _After all_, he thought to himself, _it's just for fun… and money, I s'pose._

Apparently the crowd had loved the entrance of the blood into the battle and had cheered the guy on, whoever he was. Gohan was going to ask someone who the heck he was but didn't have enough time to do so when his name was suddenly called for the next match, the platform having been cleaned up properly.

So here he was, standing and wondering what had happened as his competitor stood before him, looking at him with a frown.

"Hey you, dumbass, aren't you going to do something?"

"Huh?" Gohan shook himself out of his train of thought and looked to the boy before him, who had already settled into a defensive position. "Oh, right. We started, I guess…" he mumbled, pulling up his own fists as he prepared for the onslaught of attacks.

A minute went by…

And another…

Then a third…

And, surprisingly enough, no attacks came.

Blinking, Gohan tilted his head as he looked at his rival. "Uh, excuse me? Haven't we started?"

The boy gave an exasperated sigh. "Yes, you idiot. So get on with it!"

"But, aren't you going to attack me? I mean, we are fighting, aren't we?" By now, the son of Goku was thoroughly confused.

"Don't ask questions! Just fight!" the boy barked in response, setting himself into a deeper stance.

"Uhhh, right…" With a mental shrug, Gohan slowly advanced then jabbed once at the boy, at a speed that he knew a ten-year-old human could dodge.

It hit.

With an exaggerated grunt the boy flew backwards a long, _long _ways – in fact, he fell so far back that Gohan's eyes widened in shock as the boy stumbled off the edge of the platform, landing with a thump on the grass as the bell rang, signaling Gohan's victory.

_What the… I barely touched him!_ Gohan took several steps towards his defeated rival when he was stopped by the announcer, who covered up the mic with his hand, removing his sunglasses with the other.

"Hey, kid, you won! Y'go back thattaways, y'know?" He glanced back towards the training room before replacing his sunglasses and reassuming his announcer persona.

"_And so Son Gohan advances a level, ladies and gentlemen, an amazing victory in which he sent his opponent sailing with just a single punch! Look to our Satan SkyCam for an instant reply of the spectacular attack…"_

Gohan nodded numbly as he gradually turned, making his way back towards the training room amidst the roars and screams of the crowd. He didn't hear the cheers at all, however – he was too busy being utterly and completely confused.

Sometimes, he had to admit, he misjudged his strength. Every once in awhile it'd happen, like the time when instead of hammering a nail into a wall for a picture frame he hammered a _hole_ into the wall, resulting in Chi Chi hitting him over the head with the infamous frying pan and sending him to bed without dinner.

_Boy, that was some punishment…_ His stomach rumbled in agreement as painful memories arouse before his brain refocused on the current dilemma.

But this time, this one, single time, he knew just exactly how much power he was exerting with that punch, just how much it would hurt the average human, and what it should do if it hit. And it wasn't even supposed to hit! It went at an incredibly slow pace for even the average human kind and he wouldn't be surprised if even an amateur blocked the hit with ease.

But did that guy even try to block the hit? No. And did he even try to attack Gohan to begin with? Nuh uh.

A small frown formed on Gohan's face. _Something fishy is going on here…_

His stomach rumbled again. Gohan looked down at his complaining body-part and sighed, shaking his head as he headed towards the small buffet table in another part of the small training room – he just _had_ to stop referring to food in his thoughts.

Videl soon found herself once again stuck in a chair next to her father who was now, sadly enough, striking random poses for a group of photographers that came from several numerous fan magazines, one being _Sexy Man Monthly_and another being _Saviors of the World! Your Monthly Heroes_, both being magazines that she concluded were nothing but trash, junk, and completely useless to boot.

_Actually,_ she hesitated for a moment, _Sexy Man Monthly__ makes really good fire-burning material… at least it did last time I checked using dad's latest issue. Besides, not like anyone in there is actually sexy or anything._

The irritated look on her face instantly disappeared as an image of someone who she thought deserved to be the cover photo for _Sexy Man Monthly_, a trademark smirk forming on her face as she thought exactly of what kind of pictures would be taken… Before shaking herself out of her reverie, nearly punching herself upside the head.

_Ahhh!! Bad thoughts, bad! Bad, bad, bad! Okay Videl, let's get our brain back on track here… Yes, martial arts fighting… Fighting, fighting – Gohan fights martial arts, he's really good and pretty darn sexy too… Wait… Damn!!_

She bopped herself on the side of her head several times in a panic, attempting to rid herself of any thoughts/images of a certain spiky-haired Saiyan. It almost worked, 'cept then she realized she was hearing a voice that was repeating Gohan's name over and over.

And it was doing this very loudly.

Videl blinked, then attempted to cover her ears and block out the sound that she thought was coming from her head. Not like she needed her brain constantly chanting Gohan's name anyways… It wasn't like she didn't think of him enough already.

When thinking about something else didn't work, she paused and released the hold on her ears, quirking an eyebrow. That bloody sound wasn't coming from her head, but from the damn loudspeaker which had been convienently placed next to her.

"…_Yes, you heard right, folks! The finalists this time around are Satan Videl, the brave and beautiful warriorress, Robert Johnson, the well-known and, uh, well-liked Head Camp Counselor, and Son Gohan, who appears to be the favorite of the ladies!_"

Screeches could be heard from the crowd.

"_And it is Son Gohan and Robert Johnson that will now battle next in a match that will determine who will continue moving up towards the top. Prepare, gentlemen, for your battle will begin in five minutes!_"

Videl froze, face expression shocked. _Gohan made it to the finals?_

**To be continued…**


	9. Why Pools Of Bubbly Stuff Are Cool

Field Trip To CampHercule

**Field Trip To CampHercule**

**Author's Note:** OH. MY. GOD. I… UPDATED! AHHH! Dances. Dances around a _lot_… Because this is a big day.

For all those that have just started reading this, or forgot, or lost track of time, or yadda yadda or just plain don't KNOW… The last time I updated this was on December 5th, 2002.

It is now November 10th, 2003. A few more weeks and it will have been a full year. I'm considering it a full year just because if anyone likes this story enough and isn't patient (I'm not patient and I hate waiting for people to update, bleh), then it must've felt like at least a year. Which it basically has been.

I need to apologize for not updating sooner: I'm sorry! The extended apology is on the ending note at the bottom. (No, this is not the last chapter, by the way. No way in hell is it the last.)

Anyways… Thank you to everyone who's held out, and who's just started reading this… yay! I might get new readers from the new batch of people!

So, read on… and I hope you enjoy it! Reviews are appreciated for feedback, thanks!

**Previous chapter…**

_Ahhh!! Bad thoughts, bad! Bad, bad, bad! Okay Videl, let's get our brain back on track here… Yes, martial arts fighting… Fighting, fighting – Gohan fights martial arts, he's really good and pretty darn sexy too… Wait… Damn!!_

She bopped herself on the side of her head several times in a panic, attempting to rid herself of any thoughts/images of a certain spiky-haired Saiyan. It almost worked, 'cept then she realized she was hearing a voice that was repeating Gohan's name over and over.

And it was doing this very loudly.

Videl blinked, then attempted to cover her ears and block out the sound that she thought was coming from her head. Not like she needed her brain constantly chanting Gohan's name anyways… It wasn't like she didn't think of him enough already.

When thinking about something else didn't work, she paused and released the hold on her ears, quirking an eyebrow. That bloody sound wasn't coming from her head, but from the damn loudspeaker which had been conveniently placed next to her.

"…_Yes, you heard right, folks! The finalists this time around are Satan Videl, the brave and beautiful warriorress, Robert Johnson, the well-known and, uh, well-liked Head Camp Counselor, and Son Gohan, who appears to be the favorite of the ladies!_"

Screeches could be heard from the crowd.

"_And it is Son Gohan and Robert Johnson that will now battle next in a match that will determine who will continue moving up towards the top. Prepare, gentlemen, for your battle will begin in five minutes!_"

Videl froze, face expression shocked. _Gohan made it to the finals?_

--

_Why Pools of Bubbly Stuff Are Cool_

--

Gohan scratched the side of his head with one hand while the other rested on his hip as he glanced over the contents of the buffet table. He didn't know exactly what it was that he wanted, but he knew he wanted something; maybe a slice of pizza? Then again, that hamburger was looking pretty good…

_Aw, what the heck! It's all lookin' good!_ With that, Gohan lunged at the food – but was yanked back by the belt on his pants by a hand, making him nearly topple over backwards before he regained his balance.

"Er?" he turned around, blinking at Videl. "What?"

Videl quirked an eyebrow at him as she kept her arms folded over her chest. It was going good so far 'cause normally by that time, the Saiyan would've realized that Videl's current look meant that he was in for it in some kind of way. She was guessing that at the current moment he was thinking with his stomach instead of his head.

"Gohan, you do realize that you're preparing to go on a food rampage when your next match starts within the next five minutes, right?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

The raven-haired girl rolled her eyes as she heaved a sigh. Obviously it had never occurred to Gohan that eating before exerting a great amount of energy could cause him to get a stomachache. Typical.

"Gohan, if you eat before a match you'll probably cramp up midway and won't do as well as normal, you know? And do you even know who you're going against?"

The demi-Saiyan remained oblivious to the second question as he jerked his head up in surprise, already with a mouthful of cookies. "Videl," he started after he swallowed, "I always eat before my matches! If I don't I do really bad, especially if it's against a hard opponent."

He gulped as he recalled what exactly happened to him when he didn't eat enough to sustain himself. It wasn't all that fun when he'd collapsed and nearly died in his moment of brief starvation before Chi Chi came to his rescue, followed closely behind by a Bulma who was packing several capsules full of food.

From the look she was giving him, however, Videl didn't believe anything he'd said; especially the part about him eating a lot before going against a hard opponent.

"You think Rob, the Head Counselor, is going to be a _hard opponent?_" she gaped, dropping her arms from their previously crossed position.

"Well, you see, umm…" Gohan paused, tapping his finger on the side of his forehead. He couldn't really say what he thought of Rob since he wasn't so sure himself. What he did know, however, was that when he attempted to check the other man's ki signature all he got was a jumbled mess that could jump from an all-time low of a negative before soaring sky-high. And it did this constantly; he could never fully realize the counselor's true power and it had begun to irritate him. So, just in case, he was getting ready for a possibly hard match.

"Yes?" Videl prompted, narrowing an eye suspiciously.

"Uh, you can never be too careful!" Gohan laughed nervously as he reached up and scratched the back of his head sheepishly while giving a small shrug of his shoulders. _Man, please don't question me anymore, else I might slip up…_

Videl couldn't help but allow a small smirk at Gohan's obvious reluctance to tell the real reason for why he was actually planning on playing it safe for the fight. _I'll find you out sooner or later, Gohan, just wait, sometime you'll make a mistake and I'll definitely catch you then…_

"Right Gohan, right." Still grinning mischievously, Videl sauntered off, hands swinging loosely at her sides.

Gohan watched as Videl's form retreated away from him before heaving a long sigh. He'd escaped from her wrath – again. And just barely, that much he knew. Come to think of it, it was always just barely when he got away.

_I'm not too good at this keeping secrets stuff,_ he decided with a frown.

"Aw well!" With a quick shrug, Gohan dove back into the food. He had other things to worry about at the moment, and until then he was going to make sure he was charged to the max.

"Secrets come later… Food comes now!"

"_Ladies and gentlemen!"_

The crowd roared.

"_Yes, it is the moment that you have all been waiting for! The finals… And the winner of this match will face the infamous, well-known, heroine of SatanCity, daughter of Hercule Satan himself, Videl Satan!"_

The crowd gave another roar of recognition.

Within the small compartment he had been sent to, Gohan eyed the crowd. Apparently, since this was one of the final matches, it was supposed to be more dramatic or something. There was actually a stoplight in front of him; when it hit green, he was supposed to go.

…_But I don't have a driver's training!_

Gohan was still thanking Kami for Erasa and Sharpener. They were his form of human transportation. When he was by himself, he had his own mode of movin'; and it was done in Saiyan-style.

Anyways, back to the story: They'd been driving him to the mall to make him be the decision-maker for a hideous sweater that Sharpener wanted. Erasa thought it was idiotic. Sharpener thought it made him sexy. And obviously, they were having problems with the debating.

Already, Erasa had sworn off anything sexual; but then she realized that that would mean that she wouldn't get any either, so she had to re-swear right back on it.

Gohan, unfortunately, didn't realize that he was the decision-maker while he was being taken against his will, but that doesn't matter. What matters is the car ride over.

"Yeah, so, Mr. Rayus was all like, 'you can't have cell-phones in class', and I was all like, 'well maybe you wouldn't be so grumpy about it if you didn't have a stick up your ass!' and he was all like—"

"_AHH ERASA IT'S RED STOP STOP STOP!!_"

"What? Oh shut up," Erasa hit the brakes, screeching the car to a stop at an intersection.

Sharpener and Gohan toppled forward in their seats with the force of the stop before being yanked back by the seatbelts.

Gohan squeaked as Sharpener tried to regain his composure, still breathing heavily over his idea of a near-death experience.

Actually, just going near a car that had Erasa in the driver's seat is always a near-death experience.

"And, like, totally! She looked so bad in that skirt it was hilarious the way she was all walkin' around, tryin' to show off that booty… Oh, my gosh, that's so true! She's flaunting what she don't got, like yeah!"

Erasa giggled as she continued blabbering on her cell-phone.

Sharpener wheezed once, as he was still trying to get breath back into his chest from the seatbelt slamming. But then he realized that the honking noises in his head weren't only in his head. The light had been green for about a minute.

_Oh, I'm going to regret this,_ he groaned inwardly before turning to tap Erasa on the shoulder, motioning to the green light.

"Oh, thanks, sweet-cheeks," and with that, Erasa hit the gas full-force and peeled out, seeing the mall in the distance.

And Sharpener emitted a high pitched girly shriek.

To finish up the story, they got to the mall safely (barely) and Gohan thought Sharpener's possible sweater looked like something Kami created to fling at Halloweener's for kicks. Yes, it was grungy, creepy, and oddly misshapen. Still, it managed to cling to Sharpener's body. They made him comment on it, and he said just that.

Erasa gave Gohan the tightest hug he'd gotten in awhile. Sharpener didn't understand what he was trying to say. He was still trying to regain speaking capabilities after being in a car with Erasa at the wheel.

And, to end the tale, Gohan had learned that red means stop, green means go. All thanks to Erasa and Sharpener. The end.

"_And the match between our two finalists before the big final will begin in five! Four! Three! Two!..."_

Lights began flashing and the arena began to vibrate, thanks to the cheering crowd. Gohan squeaked as he bumped back into the present, blinking rapidly. Already he'd completely blanked on who he was fighting – thought he seemed to remember thinking about how much he was going to enjoy it.

_Oh well, I'll find out in a few seconds…_

"…_One… Now!"_

The light flashed to green, and Gohan nearly exploded from the compartment, sprinting at a speed that seemed almost humanly impossible to the audience, but merely a crisp jog for him. He was merely looking to intimidate whoever he was going up against; he didn't feel like having another episode in which the character he was facing off against was macho man to the max.

Gohan's eyes widened with surprise as he suddenly saw a flash.

_Yes, I'm going fast for humans I guess,_ he thought as one of his eyes narrowed, the other staying slightly stricken. _So why is my opponent coming at me just as fast as I am?_

_Finally._

A sadistic smirk gracing his lips, light fractured off into the shadows, bouncing off the metal that cloaked a crouching figure.

_Finally, it's time… Amongst all these people, they shall see…_

His usual demeanor that others had been viewers to had dispersed. Already the toxins within him were causing the change.

But it wasn't against his will. He wanted it this way.

_This is who I really am,_ he thought once, fleetingly.

'_Yes… You are me…' _the toxins within his mind seemed to echo back with a flicker of a thought.

'_And it is our time.'_

With a metallic shriek and an explosion of glass shards, the figure burst from the shadows that had covered its form, its entrance blinding to the audience as light reflected off the metallic surfaces.

The form spun one as it shoved off the ground, seemingly falling through the air as it turned to take long, bounding strides towards the one that he had infected his own body for.

Claws outstretched, he grinned a silver-plated tooth smirk, his eyes narrowing.

Rob was gone. Now he was merely the Toxin.

Videl sprinted to the balcony seats that were only for the Satan family, hands grabbing a hold on the metal railing as she skidded to a stop. Already in front of her the contestants were emerging, both coming at full speed.

_Eh, forget full speed… They're past that!_

She could recognize Gohan on one side, shirtless and all. She almost forgot to look at his opponent before the flash of light caught her eye.

She blinked once, rubbing her eyes to get rid of the spots she'd gotten from being half-blinded, then turned quickly to look to the other side of the ring from where the opponent was entering.

She couldn't keep it in her sights. It was moving so fast… Even speeding up somehow… But all she knew was that it was metal.

And she also knew another thing…

"That freakin' piece of metal scrap junk is _ROB?!_"

"Eep?" Gohan blinked as the burst of light flashing towards him sped up to speeds he could only _imagine_ a human reaching.

_Okay. Forgot any thoughts of this being a human…What the Kami is this junk?!_

Gohan revved up his speed to constantly match that of his opponent, and before he knew it, a fist was swinging towards him.

_Don't care how fast you are, I'm not gonna let you get a hit in, trashcan!_

He ducked off to the side, and then continued a complicated pattern of ducking and parrying to continue dodging the attacks. He wasn't gonna let it come easy.

Well, not that easy at least. A fist suddenly came out of nowhere, grazing him roughly on the lower leg, blades smoothly slicing through the fabric of his pants and leaving skid-like marks on his upper thigh.

"Hey!" Gohan pulled back, flipping once to land a short distance away from his opponent, first taking time to examine the wound with a small frown before looking back to the one he was facing.

He wanted to know who the man was behind all the metal covering. His question was soon answered.

"You didn't expect this, did you, Son Gohan?"

He recognized that voice. Except now it was deeper, not as… annoying… and… sadistic, even.

"…Rob?"

The creature before him, human-like in form but covered with a blinding metal sheet, gave a low chuckle as it stood before him, keeping the distance between them.

"Not anymore, Gohan. Not anymore." He motioned to himself. "As you can see I'm not as I was. Thanks to… Toxins, you can say. At first it was slow within me, not doing much to aid me in my plans. But now it's completely sunken within, putting me at my prime, just so I will be able to fight you."

Gohan smirked, slightly out of character. "Can't say I don't enjoy a challenge."

Rob-Toxin returned with a abrupt laugh before taking a step forward.

"No, Gohan. You won't enjoy this, for I'm not a challenge."

He held an arm to the side as the metal appeared to bulk itself, becoming larger and more dense as his form seemed to mutate.

"Challenge… That's not what you will even be to me, Gohan, once the Toxins within me have completed the links amongst themselves. Already now that it's sunken in, you are merely an obstacle that must be removed. And you will be, removed… Quickly…"

A low groan came from his mouth as he inclined his head slightly, veins on his neck bulging for a moment, then pulsing repeatedly to an oddly patterned heartbeat.

"I will…"

The shrieking of metal could suddenly be heard as Rob-Toxin leaned back, arms extended as they flexed and pulsed again and again, small spurts of silver liquid now oozing from the pores nearest to his eyes.

And, without further warning as Gohan's wide eyes looked on, the Toxin leapt at the target of his wrath.

"Oh shit!" Gohan ducked under a wild punch then quickly sprung to the side, the whistle of air beneath him being the only effects of the Toxin's kick. He then continued with a quick hand-spring to the left, followed by a front flip, shoulder roll, his head ducking once to the left then right, and then finishing by taking a step forward, falling to the ground and sliding between Toxin's legs to bounce up on the other side.

With that, he turned his head quickly and, as he spun, swung out with a hook punch to Toxin's head.

It hit with a loud clank and left a small dent.

Gohan blinked, then shook his hand once, biting his lip as the android-like creature slowly turned to face him.

_That kinda stung,_ his mind seemed to mutter to him. _This guy's beginning to piss me off._

He was about to continue his attempts at assaulting Toxin when he was suddenly distracted by a voice amongst all the crowds, one that stood out. Just one…

"_Gohan!_"

"_Gohan!_"

Videl yelled at the top of her lungs, hands cupping the sides of her mouth, both Erasa and Sharpener doing the same as they now stood beside her.

"_Come on, Gohan! Kick his ass! You know Rob what's-his-face is just a loser that needs to be shot-down for not giving us our cooking prize!_" Erasa waved both hands in the air excitedly, bouncing up and down.

"_Yeah, Gohan! Make him pay for pissing off my babe!_" Sharpener grinned as he yelled, throwing up a thumbs-up with one hand.

"Gohan…" Videl glanced at Erasa and Sharpener, realizing that both of them were completely wrapped up in their cheering, then grinned slightly while shaking her head. She couldn't help but admit that she was a little nervous for Gohan… yes, just a _little_… After all, he was facing a gigantic metally thing.

She wasn't sure why, though, but she thought he could do it. Which didn't make sense. Gohan was supposed to be the nerd-boy. He wasn't supposed to be able to do anything strong and… uh… superhuman-like.

Either way though, she wanted Gohan to win. Really badly. She wanted him to beat Rob's ass.

With a grin, she waved both hands in the air while yelling…

"_Go Gohan!_"

Gohan grinned slightly as he turned back to Toxin, eyes narrowed. He fired off two quick punches right from the start, than finished with a sweep-kick. The first missed as Rob-Toxin moved with surprising agility; the second grazed his body, emitting a loud, squealing sound. The last felled him, Rob-Toxin hitting the ground with a crash.

Not much of a surprise to Gohan, Rob-Toxin leapt up, using his hands as springs as he jumped to a stance.

With a slight grin, the metallic creature took several steps back.

_Time to make this end… It doesn't need to be so lengthy._

A low, grinding noise came from within Rob-Toxin's interior. Gohan eyed the man, slightly confused on the whole idea.

_What in the…?_

Rob-Toxin took another step back, his hands held at his sides, fists clenched closed. He flexed his fingers occasionally, still grinning sadistically. Within his palms, liquid was gathering; as he flexed, it was melded together and crushed as it began to harder within his grasp.

By the time he'd flexed his fingers several times, vapor-like dust was all he held. It was ready.

Rob-Toxin stepped forward suddenly, grinned, and then gave out a roar as he lunged into the air, twisting once as he flung his hands up, releasing the substance.

The dust flitted through the air, surrounding Gohan; it was invisible to the crowd and went completely unnoticed. Gohan, however, noticed it as soon as he breathed it in.

Gasping, Gohan dropped to his knees, his throat catching as he began to hack, eyes watering.

_What in the Kami was in that dust?_

One hand went to the ground as he tried to steady himself, still coughing. His eyes were filled with tears, everything was blurry – he couldn't see a thing.

So he didn't see the punch coming towards his left-cheek.

Metal racked at his skin, the thud dizzying him as he was knocked to the side with surprising strength. It was the first time he experienced a full-on hit.

He gasped once as dots clouded his vision, and he felt another blow coming to his stomach and ribs.

Gohan was on the ground now, clenching his own body as he curled into a ball, still coughing and still blinded from the dust. The blows were raining down on him now, several rapid punches to the shoulder, more kicks to the stomach, side, and back. And they were coming harder by the second.

He was going to be sore tomorrow.

_Come on, Gohan… Get up! What's wrong with you!_ Videl clenched her fists on the railing as she narrowed her eyes, looking on as Rob continuously kicked Gohan in the stomach

There was something up. She just knew there was. She didn't know how but she knew that there was something wrong.

Rob did something. He must have. He was doing something and he was cheating and…

Gohan was getting hurt.

Gohan was getting hurt, and Rob was cheating so he'd be able to hurt Gohan. She was getting pissed.

And that's all she knew.

"Bitch," Toxin muttered under his breath as he slammed his foot into Gohan's ribs. "Weakling," he added as an afterthought, again kicking his victim in the stomach.

Gohan groaned as the beating continued, trying to tighten his stomach muscles to try and protect himself. He still couldn't see for crap, and he was getting his butt beat in the meantime.

Not even cool.

He coughed again as a foot hit him hard in the chest, making his breath catch for a moment. Another blow came, knocking more air out of him. It was getting hard to breathe.

_This is ridiculous._ Gohan held his arms closer to himself, attempting to deflect more of the blows as the crowd's gasping, cheers and screams roared in his ears.

_I… am the son of Goku,_ his mind seemed to gasp. _I have attained the level of Super Saiyan. I'm the Great Saiyaman… I have defeated enemies greater than this… Rob… Toxin… will ever be before I even thought of going to high school._

_And if there ever is a list of the strongest inhabitants of the earth, I sure as Kami am a contestant for it._

He growled under his breath. _Utterly… ridiculous… how this is being done, he blinds me simply to get in his hits… I can't lose to this, but why don't I seem to have the… will, power, inspiration, whatever… to take control of this?_

He would find out very quickly exactly what inspiration was needed.

"_Gohan! Get up!!_"

Amidst the roar of the crowd, again, Gohan could pick out Videl's voice. He calmed momentarily, lifting his head slightly to catch it as she yelled at him.

"_Come on, Gohan! You can do it!_"

It was then that he realized that the beating had ceased. Gohan turned his head slowly (his neck was stiff) to look at Rob-Toxin, bewildered. _Why did he stop?_

"You hear her voice, don't you, Gohan," Rob spoke smoothly, almost in a gentle way. "You hear it, screaming your name, don't you?"

The Saiyan didn't answer; he merely narrowed his eyes.

"I hear it too, Son Gohan." Rob chuckled, voice low again, returning to its sadistic tone. "And I will continue to hear it. Except it'll be screaming my name, once I get her."

Gohan's eyes popped open as his fists suddenly clenched, surprised.

Rob-Toxin grinned at the look on his opponent's face. "Yes," he continued, delighting in the look of both horror and rage on the young student's face. "I will take her, many, _many _times, and you'll be able to watch from the Gates of Hell."

_That's it._

It was one thing to act crazy-psycho weird and hit him. It was another thing to insult the object of his affections.

His eyes flashed once, a bright, aqua-marine tint covering the pupils as they dilated rapidly, sizes changing as the transformation to his figure and muscle mass speedily took place within his body, his arms slightly bulging as they flexed, veins becoming more prominent.

Gohan slowly lifted himself off the ground, shaking off several beads of sweat that had gathered on his forehead as his body trembled slightly, almost giving off a familiar shiver. His hair seemed spikier, less limp; his eyes were bright and almost blinding to look at directly. To the crowd, they shone a bright white. To Toxin, they were an amazingly blinding marine hue, staring him steadily in the eye.

From where Videl was sitting, she was shocked, to say the least. Confused, shocked, and overall bewildered. She recognized something about this… Gohan… and she was beginning to put it together with someone else.

Gohan had done this once before, when he went all weird-aggressive on her. So had a certain someone else, though she hadn't really stared either time.

But she was staring now. And she was actually seeing it.

And now everything was slowly beginning to make sense.

She wanted to run out to the fighting ring, to say something, but she knew the timing wouldn't be good. From the look on Gohan's face, Rob had said… something… and it was enough to infuriate him. She never wanted to see that look on his face again. It was terrifying, to say the least.

But was she worried for Rob? …No, not really.

She was actually laughing at his predicament.

"You think your eyes will be able to scare me? You think I care about what you think you are now?" Rob-Toxin chuckled, almost merrily. "Fool! You think this will actually phase me? I don't even need to know what you are now to know that I can still defeat you."

Gohan grinned, his sadistic expression almost matching that of Rob's. Yes, his power level did appear to be low at the moment. But that's because he was keeping it masked. He would save the revealing of his true potential later… After Rob made his first swing.

Which he did.

"Filth!"

Toxin swung heavily, his fist looking to penetrate through Gohan's ribcage, tear through the muscle and leave destruction in his wake. It moved so quickly it was virtually invisible to the audience, but to Gohan? It was child's play.

With a short laugh, he skipped to the side, then gently swung his arm up, catching the offending hand and twisting it towards the ground harshly, placing his weight on the attack.

Toxin grunted, surprised with the easily done evasion and counter. He grunted again, ripping his hand from Gohan's loose grasp, then swung once more, but then time following with several other blows.

Gohan ducked under each one of the hits smoothly, neatly swerving to avoid each attack. He knew that Rob should realize fairly soon that he wouldn't go down easy.

"So you're going to put up a fight? Alright then." Toxin grinned as he took a step away from Gohan, ceasing his attacks. He leapt into the air but then stayed there, hovering as the crowd gave a gasp. He motioned to Gohan, almost as if saying, 'I know you can do this'.

And Gohan did.

"Holy shit."

Videl stood there, mouth hanging open, knowing that Erasa and Sharpener were probably doing the same.

"Oh… my… _God!_" squealed Erasa, almost bouncing up in down in her bewildered excitement.

"Are you kidding me?" Videl squeaked under her breath in a whisper. "Are, you, kidding me? I always thought it was like this, but I don't think I ever thought about how it'd be if it was true…"

Videl shoved both her hands onto the railing before her, knuckles whitening as she tightened her grip. Her eyebrow was shaking slightly; her upper lip was twitching, almost maniacally.

"_HE LIED TO ME?!_"

"Welcome to the ring, Gohan," Toxin taunted the demi-Saiyan with a sadistic grin.

Gohan returned the look, then replied in an almost nonchalant tone, "Let the games begin."

With that, he growled deeply within his throat and lunged forward, grabbing for Toxin's throat. He wanted to end this quickly, just beat up the guy fast. Get it all over with and have time to grab a quick drink afterwards.

After the fight, normal Gohan would ask himself why Saiyan Gohan wanted a drink. He would then later conclude – after remembering numerous Saiyan Gohan-related incidents – that his Saiyan side was all the 'rebel' he needed.

Toxin stepped to the side then swung out with a hard kick, slamming his foot roughly into Gohan's side. Gohan let out a soft grunt as he turned, grabbing the foot before it could pull away, and was about to twist it when he suddenly felt a fist slamming into his forehead. With a surprised groan he dropped the foot, toppling down a few short feet in the air before regaining his balance, steadying himself.

_That was a doozy,_ he said dazedly, rubbing the now forming bruise on the side of his face.

"Too hard for ya?" mocked Toxin, eyeing Gohan as he continued to nurse the bruise.

"No," Gohan looked up, eyes briefly darkening before they appeared to flash a bright marine color. "Too soft."

Gohan darted up in the air, faking a swing to the right and then faking a swing to the left, all the while rapidly bringing up his knee to slam into Toxin's gut. The soft thud of flesh being struck sounded as the hit made it, then was soon followed up by two rapid others.

The demi-Saiyan was about to continue the attack when Toxin suddenly gave a loud roar, bringing up both of his fists as metal shot from small crevices in his bodysuit, many of the shards striking Gohan and sinking into the skin.

"What the hell!" Gohan yelled as he flashed back, giving a sharp hiss of pain as the needles penetrated his flesh. He hadn't been expecting that.

He gripped one of the needles, ripping it out of his skin as he growled under his breath, feeling the flesh tear. Examining it, he could then see what he had almost expected; once the needles had passed into his body, the sharp ends had expanded, so as to make it more painful for him to remove it.

_Cheap,_ he muttered within his mind, glancing up once to look at the now guffawing Rob, Toxin, machine head, whatever. The idiot. The horn-dog. The man that was obsessed with _his_ Videl – she was more his than Rob's, anyways – and that had gone too far too many times.

_I'm through with playtime,_ he thought to himself, a small smirk forming on his lips as his eyes now glowed almost blindingly, the entire audience now realizing the aqua-marine color of the young student's eyes.

_Through with this… _

Gohan floated in midair, now calmly, his arms held to his sides. He lowered his head slightly, neck bending, eyes narrowing as they focused in on his opponent.

_He cheated… Can't even fight with honor…_

A gold glow formed around his body, the air becoming denser around his form.

_And he insulted Videl over and over…_

His spikes seemed to lengthen as his once onyx-black hair appeared to take on a goldish tint…

_And he's trying to take her from me._

Gohan's eyes squeezed tightly shut as he let out a roar, head rearing back as light spurted from his form. Yellow streaks of lightning flashed repeatedly from his glowing spikes that extended rapidly; small bolts of electricity danced over his arms as his muscles bulged and flexed, the veins pumping as the blood forced through them. His pants tore and ripped as his leg muscles tightened, the metal needles popping from his skin as he flexed repeatedly, the shards falling to the ground distorted.

Gohan's roar slowly died down, and he bowed his head again, breathing more regularly than he had before. He sucked in one slow, deep breath, almost as if to steady himself, then slowly raised his head, eyes now open.

They shone a flaming white.

"_AND HE'S THE GOLD FIGHTER TOO?!" _Videl screeched, hands waving in the air. "_SON GOHAN, YOU BETTER WIN AND NOT GET HURT SO I CAN KILL YOU AFTER THIS MATCH!_"

"Omigoodness, Videl, you're so lucky," Erasa whispered as Sharpener continued to gape at the sight of Gohan flying around with muscles and gold glowing stuff around him, the blonde-haired jock still unable to produce any other sound other than squeaks.

"Why am I _lucky?_" Videl spoke tensely, her eyebrow still twitching dangerously.

"Because your future boyfriend is, like, two whole superheroes at once!"

"_HE'S NOT MY FUTURE BOYFRIEND!"_

"Raarrgh!" Toxin roared as he fired a single blast of ki at Gohan, coming up to speed up behind the blast, intending to follow it up with multiple strikes to the body.

Gohan merely grinned tersely before brushing the blast away with a quick flick of his hand, then slamming a powerful punch to Toxin's face.

"Bitch!" Toxin screamed as he fell back, an odd, metallic ooze coming from his nose now as he grabbed at it rapidly.

"Just because you're a piece of mutant shit like me doesn't mean you're as good as I am!"

Toxin held his hands to the sides as slowly built up energy within his palms, managing to conceal them from Gohan. He would need to distract the idiot until it was ready.

"You're right, it doesn't," Gohan said thoughtfully, already feeling the raise of Toxin's ki signature. Toxin had been careless and had stopped concealing it, and even though it was distorted, like a faulty, virus-infected machine, it was still readable. Gohan still kept his ki concealed for now as he, himself, built up energy within his body, not bothering to make it materialistic yet. "It doesn't make me as good as you are, Toxin, but better."

"Idiot!" Toxin grinned crazily, small drops of ooze now appearing at the sides of his lip, peeling away as they dried. "Fool! You honestly think that a mere human… mutant… can defeat that which was created to cause death?"

The beams of energy within his palms were almost burning him now, scarring the steal into his skin that remained somewhere under all the Toxic covering, beneath the metallic shroud that covered him now. The glow was blinding now for the audience, but he didn't realize it. He was too intent on his target, and his mind was too corrupt to pick up on the obvious.

"I was _created _for this! _I, was, made, to, kill!_ Nothing else! And with a human body to inhabit, I will do so, not as merely a solution but a _machine._"

"Rob." Gohan spoke more calmly now, his normal side showing through the Saiyan. "I know you're under there, under all that toxic waste and virus. I don't see how you could really want to kill. Do you really think that's going to help anything?" The energy was still building up within Gohan, ready to release whenever necessary; he felt like the power was about to explode from him, almost burst through his body just to reach a victim, any victim.

Rob-Toxin appeared confused by the question. "I'm not Rob… Robert… Head Camp Counselor…" he said the names with disgust, almost embarrassment; "…not the geek, fool, idiot… but rather… Toxin… Rob has become Toxin… They are one…"

His tone kept changing rapidly as his body began to quake, the ki within his hands now causing his palms to bleed, a constant flow of scorching, boiling metal now falling to the fighting ring's surface.

"One… being… one… creation… one… _machine…_ one… human… One being… O-one… Chaos…" His eyes were now flaring a bright white, changing rapidly back to red by the second, almost flashing as his features appeared to sink back to his skin. "One… person…" A pool of silver bubbles laid beneath Toxin's hovering form, still being fueled by the lifeblood of the machine.

"One… destruction…" Toxin's eyes, manic and psychotic in their look, suddenly darted to Gohan's form, falling in and out of focus. He raised his arms, hands closed as they turned towards the demi-Saiyan, still shaking as they struggled to hold all the power within them.

"And I will cause… this _one DEATH!_" His palms opened, a burst of light dashing from his body as Toxin let out a high scream, eyes closed tightly shut as silver burst from his form.

Gohan growled and yanked up his own hands, fists held before him as he narrowed his eyes.

He had tried, at the last moment, but it wasn't enough. And it was time to end things.

"_Kame…_" The silver was bulging towards him, building up slowly.

"_Hame…" _It looked as if it intended to engulf him, eat him up completely and dissolve him, coming so close to him now he felt as if he could reach out and grab a fistful of it.

"_HAAAA!_" Gohan opened his fists, an explosion stream of light surging from the palms of his hands, gold completely engulfing the silver expanse that had been Toxin's vicious attack. It blinded the crowd, which gasped with shock; it blinded Toxin, which managed a final choking screech before the machine found itself taken up within the exhibition of energy, overwhelmed by the demonstration of true power.

The golden light continued to invade the entire area, leaving no space for any other light presence, the audience left wondering of the outcome whilst the golden streams continued to pulse and flash.

Then they stopped, and all that could be seen was an onyx-haired Gohan's form collapsed on the ring and several hardened drops of metallic pools before him.

"Ugh, my head," Gohan groaned as he rubbed his forehead, still confused as to how he got back into a bed. All he heard from the camp's medical team was questions, questions, questions, while they all patted his head with a cold compress.

It was getting kind of annoying.

Fortunately enough for him, his friends came barging in, Erasa's screeching and Videl's glare enough to scare anybody off.

Unfortunately for him, after Erasa gave her "OMIGOSSSSH YOU WERE GREAT"-speech that lasted all about 30 very word-filled seconds, and Sharpener gave his "You da man" pat on the back, Videl shooed them all out.

So, very unfortunately for a now cringing Gohan, he was left alone in a now locked room with a very angry Videl.

The raven girl jumped onto Gohan, grabbed his shoulders and thoroughly throttled him.

"_You LIED!_" she yelled, right in his ear. "You lied about being Saiyaman! And the Gold Fighter too?! God! If the last match for me and you wasn't canceled, it'd be slaughter!"

"Videl, I-"

"Don't you 'Videl I-blah blah blah bullshit me! Always being all 'oh, I'm not Saiyaman!' and all like 'oh, who's Gohan, yadda yadda can't be me!' and then 'oop, gotta fly! Can't meet this friend of yours, thieves everywhere!' and crap! You lied to be one too many times Gohan, and as soon as you get your ass outta this bed, that's gonna be _it!_"

"Videl, I can ex-"

"Oh no you can't! Because when you said you were gonna explain earlier you lied! And once you lie once it means you're gonna lie again! One lie just leads to another, Son Gohan, and it's obvious that you're living proof of that. I can't believe you did that. I just can't believe you – Gohan?"

Videl stopped his ranting to look down at Gohan, who now looked extremely sad, depressed, and teary. Which he was… it wasn't just the lighting.

_Oh geez, don't tell me he's trying to bullshit his way outta this with a puppy-face… he is faking it, isn't he?_

Gohan lowered his head more, now letting out a small sniff. He really wasn't; he actually did feel like shit for what he did to Videl.

_I mean, I had no choice but to lie to her to keep me… and, well, my family… safe. But did I have to lie that much? I could've done better at everything and just avoided all of that…_

Gohan sniffed again and purposely turned his head away from Videl. He hadn't even realized that she'd stopped her yelling at him, so he ended up being surprised by seeing a now very gentle looking Videl peering at him.

"Gohan," Videl spoke softly, so as not to worsen the situation. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out that… harsh."

_Actually, I just didn't think you'd be that affected by it. I kinda thought you'd pull the common macho-whatever-guy thing and brush it off, but, I guess not. He's so sweet…_

"It's just, I'm just kind of an anti-lying kinda person, you know? I expect people to tell me the truth when I demand it. I guess I was just kind of unnerved that you actually managed to lie to my face. Most people chicken out before I even ask them the question."

Gohan nodded slowly, still obviously feeling terrible but more calm.

"I'm sorry Videl," Gohan whispered, reaching out to hug a surprised Videl around the waist.

_Nice surprise though,_ she thought to herself as she leaned more comfortably into the hug once the surprise vanished.

"It's just… I was worried you wouldn't like it if you really knew the truth, that was one part… but the biggest thing was that I needed to try and protect myself – and my family – from just… everything. I didn't want it to get out to people that I was the one person that went around saving people. I don't want Godfather showing up at my front door, looking to take out my family if he can't get me."

Videl nodded, understanding. There was a reason for all the security at the Satan household. And even all that sometimes wasn't enough.

"And, you know how it is at school already. The guys already hate me just 'cause of all the stupid fan clubs under my name. I don't get why the girls do it… it's just making me look like some crazy competition to the guys and makes them wanna hate me just because of some stupid crushes some girls have. It wouldn't help for them to realize I'm also the masked superhero, the Great Saiyaman." Gohan shook his head and heaved a sigh, hoping that Videl would understand what he was trying to say.

Videl looked down at Gohan from where she was still sitting on his torso, still wrapped up in his arms. She allowed a small smile and she scooched down a little, making the hug tighter.

"I get it, Gohan. It's alright. I just didn't really think about it when I first went after you. I would've probably done the same thing to avoid all that drama."

Gohan smiled, relieved that Videl was forgiving him. "Thanks, Videl. I promise I won't lie to you again," he spoke more cheerfully, tilting his head up a little to kiss her on the top of the forehead.

Apparently there was a tiny bit of Saiyan-Gohan present, 'cause he didn't realize what that he'd managed to do that without blushing until a long time later.

Videl, however, did realize what he did, and blushed instead, blinking once. She hadn't really been expecting that; neither the promise, which actually meant a lot, or the quick sign of affection.

And she also hadn't been expecting for Erasa and Sharpener to burst in at that exact moment and see Gohan and Videl in a very compromising and suggestive position.

"_Oh my God, _how great is this! We don't have to hook them up anymore, they're doing it themselves!" Erasa squealed and jumped up and down, clapping her hands. "Isn't this great, Sharpy?!"

"Uh, Erasa," Sharpener gulped, now nervous as he quickly realized his girlfriend's mistake. "I think they need more time to themselves, uh, so, let's… go…" He placed his hand on the doorknob, trying to grab for his girl as he slowly backed out of the room.

"Oh, yeah! So they can make out or something! I hope we didn't almost interrupt that happening, I mean we've been trying for so long to get them to do it themselves if we just totally ruined it now that would suck, yanno? So, you guys go about your business! No worries! Don't even think we were ever here! Just go ahead and-"

Sharpener had finally reached Erasa, yanked her out of the room and slammed the door shut. All that was left was a red-faced Videl and a confused Gohan, who know looked up at the blushing Satan.

"What was that all about?"

"_Ladies and gentlemen!_" The announcer to the fights now stood out amongst the crowds of people that had formed a large mob around him. The ring had been closed down because of the most recent fight, which had resulted in some damages and paranoia about the metal pools. Now everyone stood outside on the camp grounds where the buffet was to later take place for after the fights.

The announcer spoke into a make-shift microphone system that had been set up at the last minute to make his voice audible over the hordes of spectators.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, because of the last battle, the final fight has been called off. Instead, we will call it a draw! We have two victors… Both loved protectors of SatanCity, famous for fending off felony-committing foes!"_

The crowd gave out a cheer.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, our heroine victory tonight goes to none other than the wonderful Videl Satan! Daughter to Hercule Satan himself, this beautiful wonder has saved our city and its citizens countless times, carrying on the tradition of heroism in her family!"_

There was a roar of approval.

"_And, ladies and gentlemen, our hero victory goes to the Great Saiyaman, now revealed to be Son Gohan! With amazing abilities that none of us can even comprehend, this marvel has only recently appeared amongst our city's protectors and has already amazed the public with his daring rescues, done in the most impossible fashion!"_

Another cheer could be heard from the audience, the screams of girls the most prominent.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, return tonight for our awards ceremony with includes a magnificent dinner in which Hercule himself will be present to award the victors with their prizes! Admission is free because of the technicalities of our final fight!_"

And, from all the penny-pinchers in the crowd, there came a huge roar.

"_So, lucky watchers of our fantastic annual matches, we all hope to see you back tonight!_"

"That was just plain brilliant, Erasa," Sharpener mumbled as they cruised amongst the crowds, Sharpener constantly looking over his shoulder to keep a watch on their backs. "Videl is gonna murder us. Bloody murder, you know? She's not squeamish about blood, like you are."

"Ew, I don't even like the word!" Erasa cringed. "But don't worry, Sharpy. I know Videl. That probably just embarrassed her or something and it's not like I never do that. Sharpy, if you knew half the things I said to embarrass her without anyone else picking up on it, you'd think that was nothing."

"What?" Now the blonde jock was confused.

"Never mind. Let's just say that our little heroine is probably soooo preoccupied with Gohan right now that she forgot everything. I mean, she does like him, and he probably had no idea what we were talking about."

"Oh."

"Men are like that sometimes," Erasa added with a grin.

"Like what?"

"…Exactly."

"Videl, I don't wanna go out there," Gohan whined still holding Videl tightly around the waist. He'd decided that he'd refuse to let her go until she agreed with him.

"But Gohan, I don't wanna stay in here. Those medical guys keep knocking on the door telling us to open up, and you know they just wanna start asking questions about how you can fly and why I'm here and crap. You know how gossip is."

"Actually…" Gohan grinned sheepishly while Videl blinked once, than rolled her eyes. She temporarily forgot that Gohan was mostly oblivious to what was said around school expect for a few really, really obvious things. And even then it sometimes took his radar awhile to pick it up.

"Yeah well, okay… Gossip is terrible. And questions from other people are just are great. Besides, I want you to save up your answers for me, Son Gohan. You know I'm going to ask you about everything later."

With a small gulp, Gohan nodded. He knew she was going to do that. And he figured she deserved all the answers… when she was ready to hear them, at least. There was going to be a lot of questions and answers. They'd probably have to take breaks between the questioning periods.

At least, he was going to have to. He'd probably be out of breath by the time the first two questions were over.

There was another knock on the door, followed by a jumbled chorus of voices.

Videl rolled her eyes again as Gohan tilted his head to the side, peering around her. The medical team. Annoying, just as he said earlier. Very annoying.

"Gohan, see why I want to get out of here?"

"Fair enough. But it'd be just as bad going through the crowds of… girls…" Gohan sighed as he showed a small frown, not looking forward to the idea of having girls tackle him even more while trying to ask him questions as well. Didn't sound too exciting to him.

He did want to get out too, but he couldn't think of a way – wait.

…_Wow. Why didn't I think of that before?_

Gohan smirked as he turned back to Videl, his attitude now beginning to worry Videl. She remembered that look on his face. He was going to do something that was either going to confuse the hell out of her or at least catch her completely off-guard.

"Uh, what are you thinking?"

The demi-Saiyan widened his smirk. "I'm gonna do just what you said and get us out of here."

"Yes, well… That's good…" She couldn't think of anything harmful that had to do with that. So she just had to know… Why was he smirking at her like that?

"I'm glad you agree." Gohan suddenly sat up, scooping up Videl in his arms as he stood.

Videl squeaked.

"What are you doing!"

"Getting us out of here," Gohan grinned, lifting a hand to shoot a small blast of ki at the skylight's lock, the window popping open with the force.

"Hold on tight."

Leaping into the air as Videl gasped, Gohan quickly flew out the window.

"Tell me, Erasa," Sharpener paused mid-hot dog, half a chewed up bun hanging out of his mouth before he swatted it away. "Where are Gohan and Videl? You do know Videl better than me."

Erasa grinned triumphantly. "Yup, I do. Well, I'm guessing that she's trying to avoid this whole scene and all the questioning. You know how she is. And knowing how Gohan's probably just trying to make his baby happy, he's probably doing all he can to get her away from where she doesn't want to be."

Sharpener blinked. "So, uh, what do you conclude from that?" he questioned, scratching his head with the hand that held a soda.

Erasa rolled her eyes. "Isn't it obvious? I'm concluding that we're not gonna see Videl out and about until she has to be here. So don't expect any sign of the Satan chick until the awards ceremony, Sharpy."

Sharpener nodded his head once; "Mmkay". Then he stuffed a hotdog into his mouth.

"_Gohan!_" Videl screamed at the top of her lungs as she gripped even more tightly around Gohan's neck. She hopped she wasn't hurting him, but for some reason she completely doubted that she was going to even leave a bruise. On most other guys, they'd be choking by then.

"What?" The son of Goku still had a mischievous grin on his face as he kept Videl in his arms, now floating. He had gone high enough so that no one down below could see them, and figured that they might as well rest on a cloud.

To be exact, that cloud happened to be a loitering Nimbus that had happened to be in the area. Goten had let him wander off for awhile and obviously, he had decided to visit Gohan at camp. Gohan decided not to tell Videl that she was now resting with him on top of a cloud that was very sturdy and wouldn't make them float through it anytime soon.

She had learned enough in one day.

"Gohan, you need to give me warning or something!" Videl sucked in a shaky breath, trying to regain her composure. She wasn't ready for all this flying stuff yet.

_I mean, yeah, I fly around in my yellow 'copter all the freakin' time. But there's a big difference in flying in a helicopter and FLYING AROUND ON A PERSON. …And… floating on a… cloud?..._

She decided not to ask until later. For now, she decided it was completely rational that she was now being hugged by a flying superhero that was obviously using a cloud as a sofa.

Cautiously, she reached out to touch the area next to where Gohan was sitting with a hand. Finding it to be completely safe, she slowly moved out of Gohan's arms so that she could sit next to him on the cloud instead.

The demi-Saiyan grinned. _Mom would love her. She only screamed once or twice in a scared way, even though she screams all the time in a mad way. They were meant to like each other._

"Hm." Videl actually found the cloud fairly… comfy. But then she'd never really had an opinion on how a cloud would feel really. Well, she did think it'd be soft, but she didn't really think she'd get a chance to feel one anytime soon.

"I'm glad you like it."

"What? Oh, yeah," Videl let out a little laugh. "I'm actually not understanding how I'm sitting on a cloud right now without falling to my death, and a little part of me thinks I actually am dead already and just haven't realized it. I don't know if the pinching would work… Ouch!"

Gohan snickered under his breath as Videl turned on him, grinning. "You!" she accused him as he looked at her, attempting to pull up an innocent look.

"Me?" he asked, pointing to himself.

"Oh, don't even try it…"

Gohan burst out laughing, unable to stop himself. Videl narrowed her eyes as she now smirked at Gohan, her look becoming more evil.

"Oh yeah?"

Completely forgetting that she was on a cloud floating high in the air, Videl lunged at Gohan, all worries gone.

Tackling him as he continued to laugh loudly, she sat on his chest, gently smacking him a few times on the chest before placing her hands on his shoulders. After another minute, Gohan's laughter finally slowed but he continued to smile widely, looking up at her as he grinned.

Gohan suddenly reached up, placing his hand on the back of Videl's neck to gently pull her down to him. "Yeah," he finally replied, before softly placing his lips over hers.

Erasa looked at her watch.

"Told you they weren't gonna show up."

Sharpener rolled his eyes, still stuffing his face with hotdogs and soda. He shrugged as he mumbled out a response, spraying bits of crumbs and hotdogs everywhere.

"Excuse me, piggy?"

"I said," Sharpener swallowed the glob of food in his mouth before continuing; "that I never argued with you on it to begin with!"

Erasa grinned, shaking her head as she took a small sip of her café mocha. "I know, Sharpy, I know. Just wanted to prove that I'm right."

She looked at her watch again before reclining back in the lawn chair. "And that they only have a few hours before they need to be back for the dinner."

She shook her head. _Videl, I hope you know how to kiss!_

**To be continued…**


	10. I Can't Believe They Did That!

Field Trip To Camp Hercule

**Field Trip To Camp Hercule**

--

**Previous chapter...**

--

"Oh yeah?"

Completely forgetting that she was on a cloud floating high in the air, Videl lunged at Gohan, all worries gone.

Tackling him as he continued to laugh loudly, she sat on his chest, gently smacking him a few times on the chest before placing her hands on his shoulders. After another minute, Gohan's laughter finally slowed but he continued to smile widely, looking up at her as he grinned.

Gohan suddenly reached up, placing his hand on the back of Videl's neck to gently pull her down to him. "Yeah," he finally replied, before softly placing his lips over hers.

--

_I Can't Believe They Did That!_

--

"VIDELLLLLLL!!" Hercule roared, waving his arms about as he huffed around the room in his anger, panting furiously and shoving a desk to the side with a great thump. "WHERE IS SHEEEE?!"

An aide sprinted into the room, barely ducking in time to avoid a flying piece of very, very, expensive china that had somehow become airborne. Unfortunately, it was not also unbreakable, and it shattered into a million pieces with a loud crash as soon as it hit the opposing wall. Blinking once as he began to sweat nervously, Hercule's travel assistant slowly backed closer to the door, deciding it might be a good idea to use it as a shield.

"Mr. Satan?" he whispered, yanking the door partially shut as another vase swished through the air, slamming against the wood. He reopened the door, peeking out from the side of it. "...Uh... Herc-... Hercule?..."

"WHAT?!" Hercule paused, hand poised in mid-air, clutching one of the room's intricately decorated chairs.

The aide gulped. I hope he realizes just how expensive that chair is. "Hercule... Your daughter... We got reports that... Well, sir, that she was in the medical room with that one boy... Uhhh, Saiyaman?... Y-yes, Gohan, Son Gohan, she was in the medical room with him, but then I believe they left or something, since the media outside of that room hasn't heard a peep from inside and found nothing by looking through the key-hole... And it's been several hours, sir. Would you like me to order a search, or...?"

Hercule glowered at the aide for a moment, then slowly lowered the chair, growling slightly under his breath.

"No," he said after a moment of consideration. "If I know my daughter, she'll show up to get her damn trophy. And this Great Saiyaman will too, I bet. Bah." Hercule took a seat on the bed, folding his hands under his chin. "And get the buffet set up. I want flash! I want fireworks! I want my name in the paper! And get me the prompter, and tell the speech-writer that I not only want to look friendly and caring but I want to look good! Like always! BAHAHAHA!!"

The aide gulped and nodded. "Y-yes, sir!..." ...He then ran from the room.

Gohan tugged his shirt over his head, then grabbed for another in his dresser, shuffling around a bit before deciding on a simple tee that hugged his muscles but was still comfy. He also decided to stick with the pants he wore to the tournament - afterall, the shirt he wore was black, and so there wasn't really an issue with matching.

A silly smile on his face, he waltzed to the bathroom to splash a bit of water over his face; he was still ecstatic.

The time with Videl had been, to say the least, enlightening, in more way than one. He never realized he was capable of doing what he did, but, he was relieved to discover that Videl didn't appear to mind in the least what he did. In fact, she actually returned the kiss! That's what got to him.

After spending so much time pondering over her hatred of him, he never thought it'd amount to this. And he was, again... ecstatic.

_Perfect...  
_  
Gohan smiled to himself as he hummed, toweling off his face while giving his hair a quick check; he never realized how concerned he was about his appearance when it came to seeing Videl.

Nodding once, satisfied about his overall look, Gohan bounded out the bathroom and through the door, whisking it gently shut behind him before he leapt into the air. Speed was essential, for he had only one thought in mind...

_Videl._

"Let's party let's party let's party let's party let's PARTY!!" Erasa bounced up and down, clapping her hands as Sharpener dug through the pile of random items that was always left in the spare cabin by all the students that were aware of it.

"Erasa! Shh! I can't think when you... Just... Stop! Down!"

"Ohhh Sharpy I can't help it!" Erasa sprung up behind her boyfriend, poking her head over her shoulder. "And I still don't know why we're here and not out there getting ready to eat, dance, and see Gohan and Videl hook up after getting their award! Or re-hook up, you know!"

"Ahh, Erasa!!" Sharpener bumped his girlfriend's head to the side as he dove his hands further into the pile of junk, shuffling the random baggage around. "You don't understaaaand! The things in this bag will make everything perfect at the party! Just... Wait... Is this... W-wait... Wait... What?... What the..."

"Sharrrrpyyyyy," whined Erasa, bouncing again. "I wanna go partyyyy!!"

"Okay okay, just gimme a sec-... Wait... Ooh, is this it?... Yes it is! Perfect!" Sharpener yanked out a large suitcase from the pile triumphantly, the baggage left behind collapsing in a heap. "Yes, yes, yes! Got it! I'm not a man, I'm the man!"

As Sharpener pumped his fist in the air, Erasa snuck up behind him, eyebrows arced in confusion.

"What the hell do you have in there anyways?"

Sharpener grinned mischieviously, eyebrows arching downwards as his grin slowly turned into a devilish smirk.

"Let's just say it'll get the party started!"

_"Is it? Yes it is! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Satan Barbecue in honor of the winners of Hercule's own tournament! Welcome all and please, enjoy yourselves!"  
_  
The campgrounds were crowded. Lights hung from the porches and christmas lights were on the trees; torches had also been lit and placed in the ground to add a more tiki-feel to the entire area. The theme was Carribbean Celebration in the Hawaiian Heat, enticing nearly all the guests to don a flowered decoration, grass skirt, or some other paradise-spawned concoction.

The previous destruction from the before battle had been cleaned in nearly lightspeed by Hercule's assistants and other hired help and the area had been decorated to perfection. People were littered everywhere, some dancing to the booming stereo as the hosting group played, others preferring to huddle by the punch and off to the side, sparking up small conversation.

The scene was overall quiet for a party, until Gohan and Videl made their entrance.

_"Annnnd here... they... commmmmeeee!!"_

An explosion of cheering erupted on the campgrounds as confetti exploded from the hidden compartments in the trees. Music blared incessantly and people screamed out Gohan and Videl's names as they slowly stepped into the party.

Gohan, with a simple flowered necklace around his neck, grinned shyly as he tugged Videl gently closer to him, his hand wrapped protectively around her waist. She returned the smile as she glanced up at him, her outfit being more complete for she wore a colored wrap around her waist with a white tank and a flowered necklace as well. Slipping her own arm around Gohan's waist, the pair made their way through the crowd that separated for the famous couple, Gohan being well aware of those that seemed to eye Videl's costume a little too much for his liking.

The crowd continued to cheer as Videl and Gohan made their way out of the mob, spotting Erasa and Sharpener at the punch table seconds later.

Erasa, spotting the two together in such an intimate embrace, squealed as she poked Sharpener. "Sharpy Sharpy! Look, awww! They're so cute!" She started jumping up and down, waving her hands. "Hey, guys! Come over here! Sharpy, they're coming over here, okay?"

"Okay, okay, shit, just hold on..." Sharpener glanced around him quickly before snatching a small flask out from his slack's pockets, unscrewing the top, and dumping its contents into the punch before hiding the flask again.

He grinned wickedly. "Ahh, perfection... The gang knows this tradition, hopefully the counselors will remain oblivious..."

"Hey, Erasa, Sharpener," Gohan nodded at each of them as he and Videl arrived before the other couple, a small grin on his face. "Didn't know you'd be so happy to see us."

"Oh, shut up!" Erasa squealed again, clapping her hands. "I knew you guys would get together! I just knew it--... Sharpy, what the hell were you doing?"

Videl eyed Sharpener suspiciously as Sharpener rolled his eyes at his girlfriend; "What I always do, dear. You know."

Videl blinked, confused. "Know what?"

Erasa's eyes widened as she looked at her friend, and as her mouth opened to explain the situation, she suddenly found herself rudely interrupted by the announcer.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The announcer stood on a stage that'd been placed behind the main buffet table for the featured guests. "Ladies and gentlemen, I repeat, please give a warm welcome to the savior of our city, Hercule Satan!"

The crowd applauded, some whistles adding to the sound as Erasa huffed, crossing her arms. If it wasn't Sharpener, someone was always interrupting her.

The lights around the campsite dimmed, focusing on Hercule as he took to the mic, eyes glancing up at an prompter that was invisible to the audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began, his voice husky as he glowered upon the crowd before him. "I would like to say a few, short statements before awarding the amazing talent we saw today. Today, we experienced a miracle, something never before thought to have been seen in actual life; we saw the rising and the exposure of a hero, and the grand abilities and amazing talent and passion of one that has been dedicated to our city for many, many years. We have seen the rising of Son Gohan and Videl Satan, two amazing and wonderful people that have, with my blessing, taken my duty of protecting the world and magnified and focused it on protecting this city from the horrors that stand before us, brushing aside opponent after another, giving our city the great name and reputation as one of the most safe and talented cities that stands on this world to this day."

A roar of cheers erupted through the crowd, followed by clapping, before elapsing into a silence.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like you to not only congratulate these courageous fighters for showing us a fantastic tournament, but to also congratulate them in their successful protection of our city and their ability to continue on without fear of the future, without fear of the past, without fear of the present. Citizens of Satan City, please, congratulate Videl Satan and Son Gohan for their pride and unmovable loyalty to our people and what our city stands for!"

Screams and applause ran throughout the teens, whistles coming from many.

"And so, ladies and gentlemen, I now award Videl Satan and Son Gohan with a month's worth of free lessons at my own private dojo along with this one trophy that they will forever cherish and share, hand-crafted by the famous, well-known and acclaimed metal-worker, Ryusho Tamiguchi. Videl and Gohan, please, come to the podium!"

Cheers and clapping broke out in the audience as Videl and Gohan made their way to the platform, seperating as they walked up the stairs to stand before Hercule, the burly man handing Videl the trophy and Gohan the certificates, shooting a quick glare at the demi-Saiyan before returning to the mic.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this fight has gone down in history! Now let's make this PARTY go down in history! AHAHAHA, HIT IT, DJ, LET'S GET IT ONNNNN!!"

Roars and whoops and hollers exploded throughout the congregation of people as Hercule waved his fists in the air, music blasting from each corner of the area.

Hercule's speech-writer rolled his eyes before tipping his head gently towards Hercule's aide's ear; "...That last part wasn't on the script."

Erasa grabbed onto Sharpener's arm as he began strutting towards the dance floor, one hand gripping a plastic cup as he'd began to weave through the crowd.

"Sharpy," she yanked him back, gripping his shirt tightly; "Sharpy, Videl and Gohan do know about... Yanno... The... punch-spiking?" She whispered the last part, glancing worridly about.

Sharpener rolled his eyes. "Well, duh, Videl has to know and she has to have told Gohan. She's been to this camp before, almost all the time, and even if she didn't know, not like she couldn't handle a shot or two."

Erasa gasped, both hands clapping over her mouth, before she yanked Sharpener's head back down to whisper urgently in his ear. "Sharpy! Videl has never come to one of these parties because she's always been busy fighting crime, so she doesn't know, so that means neither of them know! And Videl, I know for sure, she has never, ever, purposely drunk anything that contains any type of alcohol except for an occassional sip of wine at the dinner parties her dad always made her go to. She can't handle anything that has... vodka in it! And Gohan? Are you freakin' insane? Do you know him?!"

Sharpener blinked and, as it slowly dawned on him, his face sagged as his eyes widened. "Ohhhh no," he breathed, his lungs catching. "Oh, Kami... Ohhhh man..."

"Yeah, oh man and oh Kami it is! We gotta find them before they get their hands on their punch, or... God knows what'll happen!

Gohan shot a quick glare at another passerby that'd been looking at Videl for too long before returning to his comfortable seat beside Videl, drinks in tow.

"Here you go!" he said cheerily, handing her the cup before taking a seat on the couch next to the heroine, contemplating only for a quick second why there was a couch outside anyways. Well, many couches, and a couple fluffy chairs, all placed at the edges and in small sections of the campgrounds.

"Thanks," Videl shot a quick smile at Gohan before leaning back in her seat. She didn't know why but, ever since her first cup of the punch, she'd been getting really thirsty.

_Lights a little... Brighter than usual..._

"So, Gohan..." Videl scooted back on the couch, nudging Gohan's leg over to the side so she could lay between them, back against his chest as she tipped her head upwards to look at him; "We got time now, so start talkin' about the Saiyaman deal... I wanna know what the hell happened to you to get you the way you are."

"What?" Gohan blinked, his head getting slightly fuzzy. He quirked an eyebrow as he glanced at his cup; he honestly never realized that punch could have such a... tang to it. Shaking his head to clear the small buzz in the back of his mind, he looked at Videl again, blinking. "What do you mean?"

"Well, uh..." Videl smirked slightly, raising an eyebrow as she settled against Gohan's chest. "Your personality was really... interesting at times. Let's just say that it looked like you changed contacts and personalities with someone that actually played a little more in the 'big leagues', if you get that."

"...Oh..." Gohan didn't understand the leagues part really, but the contacts part? That he understood. He blushed, ducking his head. "Well... Okay... Well... See, I can't explain it really well now because of where we are, but to put it simply, I have a whole 'nother side to me that not very many people have, that's just in my blood. I'm meant to be that way when a change within me takes place... Mostly happens when I'm fighting I guess, and I'm sure there's other triggers..." He stopped suddenly.

Videl, oblivious to Gohan's sudden silence, continued on. "Well, I kinda understand that, but, yeah, you'll have to explain it to me fully sometime later. Can you completely change your eye-color randomly, whenever you want to, or just when you're... in that mood?"

She turned around to look at him and was greeted with extremely aqua eyes and a very intrigued stare. Blinking, she eyed him again, then slowly nodded.

"Yup, that's the color I was going for, but I didn't know you could just do it on snap judgement..."

Gohan smirked, taking another sip of his drink, when his eyes suddenly flashed back to their usual hue. His eyes snapped open for a moment in surprise, then he shook his head, as if to clear it.

_I'm not really sure why that just happened...  
_  
Videl glanced at Gohan, forehead slightly furrowed before excusing herself to get another cup. She didn't seem to notice that, as she got up to leave from the couch, Gohan's eyes again turned to the bright aqua-marine color and, as she sauntered away, he leaned far off from his seat to eye her swaying body before settling back. She was at the punch area, getting more scoops of the liquid before drinking it then taking more, when Erasa slammed on the table beside her, gasping.

"Videl!" she screeched, attempting a grab for the heroine's drink, which Videl deftly moved to the side. Things were getting a little blurry but, in all honesty, whatever was in that punch was starting to taste great.

"Videeeelll! Gimme the drink!" Erasa swung at the drink once more and, again, nearly fell on her face as she missed. "Dang it, Videl, stop being stubborn, why won't you gimme the drink?"

"Because," Videl said curtly, smirking at her panicking friend. "I like it, I guess? Shit Erasa, chill and just... go find Sharpener. I'm sure you two can find something else to do besides get on my case." And with that, Videl jerked her elbow back, slamming it neatly into the once sneaky Sharpener's gut, the very same Sharpener that was attempting to sneak up to grab the drink from Erasa's best friend.

"Gack!" the blonde gasped, toppling to the ground as a stunned Erasa dropped down on her knees beside him, wide eyes staring at the now suddenly sultry figure of Videl that was now walking away from the currently disposed-of pair.

"Oh, my goodness," Erasa gasped, before bowing her head and shaking it. "Oh, geez, this can't be good..."

"What, that I no longer have a WORKING LUNG?!" Sharpener screeched, still gripping his gut as he wiggled around on the floor in pain.

"Drink some more spiked-punch, dear, it'll numb the pain," Erasa said distractedly, handing her boyfriend another glass of the liquor. "But, no, that's not what the problem is. The problem is that I've just seen what is, apparently, Videl's partially drunken and, at the least, buzzed personality. And... err... Considering that it appears that Gohan and her have just hooked up, the timing is terrible and it's just... not... good..."

Sharpener sat up, grabbing for the drink before settling next to Erasa. "Why do you say that? What's going on?" he questioned, sipping daintily at the cup.

"Well... She's acting all... Sexy and... Gohan is very innocent yet very strong and soon to be drunk, and... They're just... And... I know Videl would NOT be this way if she wasn't... Just... And... Yeah... Oh, my Kami, Sharpy... We're dead, and if they wake up naked in the same bed tomorrow I am SO BLAMING YOU! PBBBFFFTT!" Sticking her tongue out at Sharpener as Erasa jumped to her feet, she bolted for the cover of the crowd as a wide-eyed Sharpener remained on the ground, sputtering.

"W-what?! No! NO! Erasa! Get back here! It's your fault too! Oh, damn..." Pulling himself painfully to his knees and then to his feet, Sharpener slowly made his way in the direction that Erasa had ran. "Well, if they're going to, can we do it too?!"

"Hmm." Gohan poked at his glass, placing it on the table in front of him before peering into it. Maybe it was the liquid inside of it that was making him act funny... I mean, before he drank it, he wasn't weird... Right?

He scratched the back of his head as his forehead furrowed in complete and utter confusion. Something had to be triggering it, and this was the only thing that made sense...

His thoughts were interrupted by a smooth touch of two hands gently sliding on his back, over his shoulders, and down onto his chest, gripping him lightly but still, tight enough to indicate ownership. Eyes suddenly wide, he slowly allowed his glance to drift up, until he realized he was looking into the face of Videl... A Videl that had a very... provocative expression on it.

_...Oh, man..._

"Gohan," Videl spoke with a tone in it that Gohan didn't recognize, but, in all honesty, really, really, liked. His eyes slightly glazed over as he slowly nodded his head in response to her voice.

"Come on... We haven't danced yet."

Gohan snapped out of his daze and was about to immediately decline; unfortunately, Videl had already pulled him up and out to the dance-floor. He was, now, in panic mode, yet one that seemed a little too intrigued with the beautiful Videl.

_I don't know how to dance! I don't know how to at all! And-... Hey... She looks really good tonight now that I see her out of the shadows..._

The base vibrated throughout the area as the lights dimmed. Gohan glanced up as only the stars and the decorative lights flashed around him before looking back down at Videl, who was eyeing him with an almost predatory look. Normally when he got that look from other girls, it scared him, but from Videl?... Strangely attractive.

The people around him began to move, almost melding together in a trance-like state as the vocals started up, slowly, then increased in velocity, as the currently featured artist took her place on the stage, her voice suddenly breaking out throughout the campgrounds, adding to the delirious and sensual movement of the dancefloor.

The music buzzed in Gohan's ears, the lyrics blending together, as Videl looked up at him with artic blue eyes through locks of midnight black hair, slipping his arm over his shoulder as she pulled him closer to her.

_...But I don't know how to dance..._

_...Just move with it._

_**"Baby, the minute I feel your energy...  
...The vibe's just taken over me..."**_

Videl gently placed her hand on Gohan's chest as she moved with the music, Gohan slowly doing the same, following the movements of Videl's body, almost mimicking her motions perfectly as he wrapped an arm around her waist, the other hanging free.

_**"I don't know what's gotten into me...  
...The rhythm's got me feelin' so crazy, babe..."**_

Videl's gaze lowered as she completely focused on the man that was holding her, and her him, completely dedicating her every movement and breath to matching his, completely immersing herself within the beat that flowed through her veins, the pumping of her pulse and the heat that was rising between them, for nothing else mattered.

_**"You're so sexy... Tonight, I'm all yours, boy...  
...The way your body moves across the floor..."  
**_  
Time stopped outside of the small center that the pair had formed within the smooth, heated motions, the temperature nearly burning them, as if the emotion within each was about to sear their innards, their blood flowing profusely throughout their bodies, as if their own soul wanted to seep out of them to reach out towards that which seemed so near in reach, yet not close enough.

_**"We're going to turn this party out...  
...I know you want my body..."**_

Videl bit the corner of her lip as she looked up at Gohan, finding and returning his dark stare, icey bold eyes meeting stone, onyx pupils that suddenly had flourescent flashes of marine sparks within them, matching reflection for reflection, intensity building within the stare...

_**"Tonight... I'll be your naughty girl..."**_

And with that, Videl gently slid her arm around Gohan's neck, pulled his head down, and brushed her lips against his, the demi-Saiyan gripping her body tightly as the two engulfed themselves within the music and the passion of the moment.

Son Gohan woke to a terrible headache and a ringing sound in his ear. Groaning, he pulled himself up from the bed, swiping blindly at the sheets before him, then knocked on his head a few times, before rattling his own ear.

_...Nope, ringing's still there._

Sighing, he blinked, shaking his head slowly, trying to clear his thoughts, before resettling in bed, chin resting lazily on a pillow. What had happened last night?...

...All he remembered was the celebration of the the past tournament... Getting the trophy... Seeing Sharpener and Erasa, and Videl, who had looked beautiful, and... blank.

_...What had happened next?..._

For the life of him, he couldn't remember, and he remained still for several seconds, gazing out the window at the cluttered party grounds before him, the curtains just barely open, exposing the left-over garbage and the man that had to clean all of it up. He felt sorry for him, and if the bloody headache left anytime soon, Gohan was planning on swooping out to give him a hand.

At least, that was his plan until he rolled over and came face to face with one Satan Videl.

"Eep!" Gohan muffled his own shocked squeak by slapping his hands over his mouth as he nearly toppled off his own bed. Fortunately enough for him she was still asleep, but... what was she doing in his, yes, his, as in Son Gohan's, bed, and not hers?

Gathering himself, Gohan gingerly allowed one hand to drift down, gently take up a corner of the blanket, and slowly bring it up, peeking under the covers, before letting out a sigh of relief.

She wasn't naked. That implied that one thing hadn't happened.

But what had?... She was short a few articles of clothing... All she really had on was a spaghetti-strap shirt, a very revealing one at that, and... uh... well, a very provacative type of underwear, that Gohan suddenly caught himself staring at.

Mentally slapping himself he looked away, before returning his glance to Videl. Well, hopefully they hadn't done much... He knew for a fact that he at least had his boxers on... But... Yeah. That was it.

_So what had happened?_

"Mmm..." Videl sighed into the very comfy pillow she had her head stuffed into, slowly stretching one of her arm's muscles before switching to the other. Sleep was so relaxing. It felt so good...

Actually, one thing that was kind of odd was that she seemed to remember having complaints about the pillows that were in hers' and Erasas' bedroom, about the actual... lack of them.

So why was her head resting so happily on an extremely comfortable pillow that seemed to be filled with down feathers?

Videl's eyes slowly fluttered open, and she blinked once, then twice, her vision starting blurry as her head swam with colors.

_Oof... What the hell did I have last night?...  
_  
She blinked again, then squinted her eyes, finally consenting to moving a single arm, dragging a fist up then rubbing the knuckles against the corner of her eye, before letting it fall again, her eye now opening, her vision now clear, and a very adorable, partially naked, very sexy looking Gohan staring back at her--

_...Wait._

"AHHH!!" Videl screamed, jerking back in bed, bringing the very comfy pillow with her.

"GACK!" Gohan yelped in response to Videl's screech which had, in all honestly, surprised the shit out of him. He wasn't as lucky as Videl to have simply just scooted back on the bed; instead, he fell.

"Gohan! What the hell!" Videl barked as she clutched the pillow to her chest, yanking it away from her for a second to frantically check herself for proper attire and, discovering some of it to be lost, gasped, but then sighed in relief as the discovering of some of the more essential clothes still being on her partially exposed body.

"Gohan," Videl started again, a little calmer this time; "Why are you and I in the same bed, and, Kami save you, you'd better tell me what the hell happened last night!"

Gohan's head poked up from the side of the bed, his hair ruffled as his eyes showed a look of complete panic.

Videl's glare softened in response to this, as she inwardly cooed at the cute expression on his face, the lack of care of his hair, and, also, the lack of shirt on his very, very muscular, chiseled...

She stopped herself and focused on the issue at hand.

"...Gohan?..."

"Videl..." Gohan's tone was a whining one. "Videl, I don't... know! I honestly don't! I have no idea what happened... I just woke up a few minutes before you and was trying to figure out what the hell happened when you woke up and scared the living daylights out of me! At least we both have clothes on though," he added thoughtfully.

"Yeah, some," Videl added bitterly, lips placed in a full pout. "And I'm sorry I scared you but... Honestly! And, why didn't you wake me up so we could... Discuss this situation?"

"Because..." Gohan hesitated, taking in a breath as he pulled himself back up onto the bed, looking down as he began to twiddle his thumbs. "Well, because, for one... I was scared of a scary reaction, and..."

Videl eyed him testily. "And...?" she prompted.

"And..." Gohan sighed; he couldn't lie to her even if he wanted to. "And, you looked really pretty just sleeping there and really peaceful, so I didn't wanna ruin it by waking you up. I'm sorry, Videl," he bit his bottom lip, bowing his head down.

_Oh, Kami..._

Videl rolled her eyes and scooted forward on the bed, dragging the sheets with her as she wrapped her arms around Gohan's neck and pulled him down next to her, hugging him tightly. "Oh, Gohan... You know I'm just giving you a hard time. Don't do that..."

"Do what?" he asked innocently as he pulled up for a second, leaning back against the pillows and pulling Videl onto him so that she partially laid on his side, head resting on his shoulder as she placed a hand against his bare chest.

"Well, I think you know what you did, but if you don't... I'll just give you the benefit of the doubt." Videl smiled up at Gohan before snuggling her head in by the crook of his neck.

Gohan grinned and hugged her tighter to his body. "Thanks. And Videl... I have an idea of how we can figure out what happened... We can ask Erasa and Sharpener. I think they know a lot more about what goes on with us then what they put on."

Videl quirked an eyebrow in amused surprise. "I didn't think you'd picked up on it yet, Gohan," she smirked, before settling herself back against her demi-Saiyan. "But we'll ask them later. I'm too comfy to want to move."

The demi-Saiyan let out a quiet laugh, then tilted his head to the side to kiss Videl gently on the top of the head. "Alright."

"OH, MY, GOD!" Erasa danced around in a circle around Sharpener, a Sharpener that appeared to be very tired and not very amused by the overly excited girl in front of him.

"OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!!"

"Erasa..." Sharpener groaned tiredly, yanking a pillow over his head. "Erasa, pleeease... Shhhh..."

"Oh, shut up, it's your fault anyways, you drank too much," Erasa scoldered, before continuing on her happy rampage around the room. "Oh, my, gooosh..."

"Erasa!" Sharpener sat up in bed. "I know you're thrilled but c'mon now, babe! I need my sleep!"

Erasa took a seat next to Sharpener on the bed, still grinning gleefully. "Yeah, I know, I just can't believe it. I never expected all that to go on with Gohan and Videl last night at the party. That was insane... Hopefully no one else saw anything, otherwise... Well... Gohan should be expecting a couple jealous jocks knocking on his door and Videl?... Some insane bimbo."

"Mmfh." Sharpener nodded before plunging his head back into the pillow - the one pillow he'd managed to salvage out of his suit-case before Gohan and Videl had occupied the other room - and immediately began to snore.

Erasa looked at her sleeping boyfriend, sighed while rolling her eyes with a small grin, before returning to her previous thoughts.

_I just can't believe it at all!_

"I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE IT AT ALL!! ARGH!!" Hercule roared, shaking his fists in the air. He wouldn't destroyed something but his aides had enough sense to clear his room of all valuables and only leave the essentials... Those he wouldn't break for he enjoyed sleep, food, and the privilege of having a bathroom far too much.

"AHHH!!" Hercule roared, pounding his fists against the wall, leaving little indents against the incredibly hard surface (a good insight by the aide who'd booked the cabin).

With a huff, Hercule slammed himself down on his bed and buried his head in his hands. He couldn't believe it.

He knew what he saw. And what he saw, he didn't like. He had plans for his little Videl. Big plans! Plans that included marrying a wealthy, famous person that would bring even more media attention to the family, and more money! The Satan fortune couldn't last forever with the way he was spending, his advisors had said, so even since he'd started to receive the warnings (yes, ever since Videl was, say, five), he'd planned Videl's dating life, marriage proposition, and wedding. He even knew what color Videl would wear down the aisle - yellow. It was his favorite, and he'd be damned if anyone would deny him the right to pick his daughter's wedding dress' color!

But this... Son Gohan kid... The one he saw at the dance... He could ruin everything! Was he rich? No! Famous? Yes, but in a way that distracted from him, and it was all about him, him, him, Hercule, Hercule, Hercule! He was Satan, Hercule! He was the man who had defeated the monster from hell that had comed to destroy earth! He was the one who had done everything, everything for these people that were now messing around with his daughter!

And there was just something about that kid that got to him...

A little bit of familiarity, perhaps...

But that was just paranoia. Because that was exactly what he didn't want; for Son Gohan to become familiar.

If it took him to his grave, he would see to it that Videl and Gohan never, ever got married!

"AND I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THEY DID THAT!!"

Scott and Brett, your friendly neighborhood body-guards, shot looks at each other while they stood outside of Hercule's room, saying in unison; "He can't believe they did that."

Brett grinned sheepishly, lifting up his glasses to eye his partner. "And that Gohan is one lucky guy."

**To be continued...**

**...Commercial...**

Predator and Prey  
_By Psycho Ann_

**Author's Summary:** The question is--how fast would she run? (Gohan/Videl)  
**Type:** AU, Romance/Action/Adventure  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Chapters Currently Up:** 14 (Incomplete)  
**Word Count Currently:** 66,929

**Angelic Aki's Editorial:** Brilliantly written, and a personal inspiration, I honestly love this story. I also love the counter-part that comes with it (check in Psycho Ann's profile for the one that links with it), and also consider it to be brilliant. The writing is ingenious and, though the characters don't exactly follow their personalities in certain cases (one is more exact than the other), the flow in which this story moves is fantastic. The writing is nearly perfect in grammar and spelling (if there are any mistakes I've yet to see them) and, overall, I believe the story compliments itself with its character animation and interaction and its vivid descriptions of events, actions, and settings. It's very creative and brings a whole new aspect to the Gohan/Videl scene and not only engulfs the reader in a wonderful plot but also within the characteristics of the characters themselves, leaving the viewer expecting - and hoping - for more.

Honestly, read it sometime, you guys. I think it's one of the best written Gohan/Videl pieces out there... It may require some open-mindedness from some dedicated DBZ fans, but, in all honesty, I normally am a fanatic when it comes to staying close to the exact plot/concept of the characters for DBZ but this one, though different in many cases, is awesome. I love this story and I have no idea why it wasn't on my favorites list until an hour or so ago.

Take some time to check it out... Only one downfall about reading this...

If you get addicted... Psycho Ann, to say the least, is kinda like me on this concept... The last update she made for her currently 14-chaptered story was on June 14th, 2003. Yeah, you heard me... About a year ago. So while I think this fic is worth the sacrifice of possible suffering if addiction ensues, some may find themselves popping more blood vessels than necessary.

Anyways... Hopefully this will entice at least a couple of people to read this story and hopefully they'll like it. Good luck in story-hunting.


End file.
